Calling
by Silwyna
Summary: After meeting someone from Sam's past the Winchester brothers get drawn right into their next hunt. HurtSam
1. Chapter 1

_D__isclaimer: I own nothing related to Supernatural. The characters and the universe of Supernatural do not belong to me. I make no profit from this story._

_A.N.: This is my first Supernatural fic. So far I have only seen the first three episodes of Season 1 and a few episodes of Season 2 and I have no idea what has happened in between. I hope I don't get the characters too wrong. I also apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes as English isn't my first language._

_I fell in love with this show within the first five minutes and couldn't stop myself from writing a fic about it ;-) This story takes place sometime during the first half of Season 1. I hope you enjoy it. :-)_

**Calling**

**By Silwyna**

"Hey Sam, did you read this?" Dean looked excited at his younger brother. They had just come back from a successful hunt and had made a short stop at a gas station. As soon as their car was refueled, they only needed to grab their bags from the motel in the nearby town and then they could leave … going right on to the next hunt.

"What?" Sam looked up at his brother.

"There is an unusual high amount of deaths in the Reddick Forrest. That's just a few hours from here. Several people went missing and some were found dead … apparently their bodies were ripped up by claws. Sounds like a job for us." Dean said grinning.

Sam shot an angry look at his brother. "And what about Dad?"

"What about him?"

"We're supposed to be looking for him, remember? He's missing too." Sam replied sharply.

"We are looking for him, Sam."

"No, we don't. We hunt one demon after the next, but we're having no trace of Dad. None!" He nearly shouted the last part. He took a deep breath and tried to regain control over his feelings. He hated to lose his temper like this, especially in front of his brother. But he was tired of this. He only wanted to find their father, find the demon and get his revenge ... then this would all be over and they could go on with their lives. However such a life might look like then.

"That's exactly it, Sam. We have no idea where to look for Dad. So, as long as we are waiting for any sign of him, we should do something good. Killing demons saves lives … sounds good enough for me, don't you think?" Dean glared angrily at his brother. His attitude annoyed him. Why wouldn't he understand how important their job was?

"Well, it's not good enough for me." Sam said stubbornly. Deep down he knew that Dean was right. But the guilt he felt inside of him grew with every day and the only way to stop that feeling was finding their father and kill the demon. Make things right again in his world. Then he might fall asleep again without being afraid of the dreams.

"That's too bad, Sammy." Dean said, the anger now clearly audible in his voice. "You know what? Maybe we should split. You go looking for Dad and I kill that forest demon."

"Forest demon?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Whatever! It's a demon, it's killing people and I will hunt it down. You're with me or not?"

"Dad isn't in the Reddick Forest, Dean, we should …"

"Fine. I'll do it alone. Call me if you find him, all right?" Dean left his brother standing where he was and quickly walked to his car. He started the engine as soon as he was in and without looking back he drove off.

Dumbstruck Sam watched his brother driving away. He couldn't believe Dean had just left him here. Their motel was miles from here, it would take him several hours to get there by foot … and it was winter. The streets were covered with snow, the sky looked like it would snow even more and it was freezing cold. He didn't exactly look forward to walk all the way in this weather.

"Sam?"

Surprised to hear his name, Sam turned around ... and froze.

"Jade?" He stared at the woman in front of him. Jade Moore, the sister of the woman he had loved, was the last person he had expected to see here. Actually he hadn't though he'd ever see her again. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Like you'd actually care." Jade replied coldly.

Sam was about to give her a smug response, but stopped himself before the words had left his voice. He was used to argue with this woman all the time, but he didn't feel like he had the right to do so anymore. Her sister was dead and he was responsible for that. Of course she didn't know that and there was no real proof to connect him to Jessica's death, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she would still be alive if she had never met him. Images of the last time he had seen her flashed through his mind … he could feel her blood trickling on his face, the heat of the fire burning on his skin. He heard her screams ... Heard them every night in his dreams.

He closed his eyes to force the memory down. He wished he could forget ...

"You're all right?" Jade didn't know what had made her ask. In fact, she had no idea what had made her call out for him in the first place. She didn't care about Sam Winchester anymore. She hadn't liked him very much when Jess had still been alive, they had usually been fighting every time they were together. And she downright hated him now after he hadn't even bothered to come to her funeral. But there was something in his eyes ... something about him that made her forget her anger at him for a moment.

"I'm fine." Sam responded to her question. "It was nice seeing you again."

With these words Sam turned around and started walking away. He wasn't in the mood for another fight right now. And fighting was really all he and Jade had been good at in the past. No real fights actually, more like quarrels. It seemed they could never agree on anything. It had actually been fun most of the times. Of course it had driven Jessica nuts.

"Hey wait." Jade called after him. Again she had no idea what made her say the next words. "Need a ride?"

"What?" Surprised Sam turned back to her.

"I saw your friend driving away. It didn't look like he was planning to come back anytime soon."

Sam looked shortly at the direction Dean had disappeared to. She was right. Dean was too stubborn to come back soon and he was too stubborn to wait here for his brother to calm down. He thought about her offer for a moment. There were worse things that could happen than driving in a car with Jade Moore. A four hour walk in the snow definitely was worse. And it might be nice catching up with her. Finding out how she and her family were doing.

"I'm staying in Carlton City. There's a small motel. If you could let me out there ..."

"Sure." She tried to keep her voice cold, but something inside her was glad that Sam wouldn't just disappear out of her life again after only a few minutes. She tried to ignore that feeling. "Get in."

XXXXXXX

The first few minutes they drove in silence. Jade was determined not to talk with Sam. He was the man who had walked out on her sister after all. She still remembered the last time she talked to Jessica. She had been worried that Sam had just left in the middle of the night after this brother had shown up. Something about his behavior had been awkward, she had said. Jade had asked her then and there if she thought that Sam had left her, all ready to get in her car and drive to her sister to give her comfort. But Jess had insisted that Sam hadn't left. Never would. Because he loved her and she loved him and they had this wonderful relationship. Well, as it turned out, Sam had left her. Only Jessica never lived long enough to find that out.

That thought send a familiar pain through her and increased her determination not to speak a single word with Sam Winchester if it wasn't necessary. She already regretted her offer to drive him to his motel. What had gotten into her? That jerk had left her sister.

But Jade Moore wasn't the kind of girl to stay quiet for very long.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked after a while, trying her best to let her voice sound anything but nice. "I thought you were going to law school."

"Why do you ask?"

"This is the middle of nowhere, Sam. It's kinda strange to meet you here of all places. So ... Why are you here?" She cast him a curious look.

"I could ask you the same." Sam replied evasively.

"You already did. I just chose not to give you an answer. And why should I ... it's obvious that you don't care about my family."

"What? What are you talking about?" The moment the words had left his mouth, Sam knew exactly what she had meant. He hadn't been to Jessica's funeral. He hadn't said his condolences to her family. They had taken him in and always treated him warmly after he and Jess had become a couple. For a while he had felt like a part of a real family. And then he had simply turned his back on them. He hadn't even called or written a card. He took a deep breath to force down the wave of guilt spreading through him. Jade had every right to accuse him of not caring.

"Never mind." He looked out of the window. He wished he hadn't taken her offer to drive him. Suddenly walking outside in the cold didn't seem like such a bad thing after all.

"Yeah, just ignore what's going on around you. That's what you're best at, isn't it." Jade glared at him angrily. "You told Jess you loved her and she believed you. But then you just leave in the middle of the night without an explanation ..."

"It was a family thing." Sam cut in angrily. "That ..."

"And of course that was more important than the woman you're supposedly loved, wasn't it? You couldn't even ..."

"Supposedly loved?" Sam called out agitated. "You have no idea what you are talking about. I loved Jess and ..."

"If you had really loved her than ..."

She never got to finish her sentence. At that moment something big hit the car and pushed them off the street. Jade tried to regain control over the car, but it was useless. A second later they crashed down a steep slope.

XXXXXXX

Angrily Dean leaned on his car which was parked near the road. He knew he should get back. Sam couldn't walk all the way to the motel, it was way too cold for that. Even if he just waited here for him it would be too far. He would most likely end up with a cold or worse and then neither of them would get what they wanted.

He cursed his brother for his stubbornness but at the same time had to admit that he wasn't much better. They were too much alike for their own good. And if he was honest with himself, Sam had a point. Hunting down all those demons did stop them from looking for their father. But he couldn't just ignore all that was happening. As long as he knew that there was a demon killing people and he could stop it … he couldn't just look the other way. And he also knew that Sam felt the same way. It was drilled into them since they were children. But he also knew that finding their father was Sam's top priority right now. Mostly because he hoped that by finding him he would also find a way to kill the demon who had killed their mother … and the woman he loved.

When Dean looked at his watch, he noticed that he had been standing here for over half an hour by now. Sam was probably already on his way, he would have never waited that long for Dean to return.

He was just about to get back in the car and drive back to pick up his brother, when he saw two ambulances driving down the road he had just come from.

A bad feeling spread through him. He couldn't really explain it ... it was highly unlikely that this had anything to do with Sam. They had only been apart for about half an hour .. what could have possibly happened to him in that short time? But he couldn't shake the feeling of dread and quickly got back into his car. He told himself that he wasn't following the ambulances. He was only driving the same way to pick up Sam from the gas station where he would still be waiting, safe and healthy.

He couldn't say why, but when he saw the ambulances stopping on the roadside, he slowed down his car as well.

XXXXXXX

Slowly Sam came back to consciousness. His head was fuzzy and he wasn't sure what had happened, but he was hurting everywhere. When he tried to move, a sharp pain spread through his left side and he cried out in pain. He took a deep breath which caused him to start coughing. It felt as if he was only inhaling smoke. He looked around himself and a wave of panic immediately spread through him. He was in a car wreck and the car was on fire. Frantically he tried to get out, but his leg was stuck. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get free. Gasping for breath he gave up and fall back against the seat, exhaustion and tiredness taking their hold of him.

"Dean?" He tried to call for his brother, but his voice was barely above a whisper. He couldn't see Dean anywhere. Where was he? He tried to clear his mind. Had he been in the car? He couldn't remember. Was this even his car? It didn't look like the Impala. God, Dean would kill him if anything happened to his car.

"Sam? Sam, you have to get out now!"

He turned his head to the voice … she sounded familiar. "Jess?"

"You have to get out of the car, Sam! Come on!"

He blinked a few times and finally recognized the woman who was shouting at him. It wasn't Jessica. The all too familiar pain he had been able to forget for a few moments returned and threatened to overwhelm him. Jessica was dead. He closed his eyes. It would be so easy to just give up now. He could be with her again. He would just fall asleep and it would all be over. No more pain …

"Sam, damn it! Wake up! You have to stay awake! I won't let you die in there. Don't you dare give up now!" Jade's voice pulled him back and his eyes fluttered open.

His thoughts went to Dean. He tried to concentrate on him. He couldn't give up. He wouldn't let his brother down. "You have to … help me, Jade. I can't …" He gasped for breath. " … can't get out."

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. His vision was starting to blur and every breath he took burned in his chest.

"I … I can't help you." Jade said, the despair clearly audible in her voice.

Sam looked at her confused. She was standing right next to the car, she would only have to open the door and try to pull him out. This couldn't be so hard. She hadn't even tried yet. "Jade …" He was hit by another coughing fit after inhaling too much smoke. He knew he couldn't stay awake much longer.

"Just hang on. Someone's coming." She told him, hope returning to her voice. "He's stopping. Oh thank god, he's gonna get you out."

Sam didn't hear her anymore. His last thought before slipping away was that Dean would be alone now.

XXXXXX

Dean watched the ambulances stop on the roadside. He didn't have to guess for long why … he could see the smoke coming from down the slope. It must have been a car accident. He let out a relieved breath. Sam hadn't been in a car. So this really had nothing to do with him.

He wanted to drive by and go back to the gas station and pick up Sam, but something made him stop. While he was driving by the ambulance, the bad feeling in his stomach increased immensely. So he stopped the car and got out. Maybe he could help. Sam would understand.

He looked down the slope and saw two bodies lying on the ground. One was a woman. He couldn't see much of the other person as a man was bent over him. It looked like he was trying to resuscitate him, doing mouth to mouth and heart massage. It didn't look good. When the man moved aside to let the medics get to the injured person, Dean saw the injured's face … and he felt as if the bottom of his world had just dropped out.

"Sam …" He shouted and started running down the slope, seeing Sam's pale and bloody face before his eyes the whole time. He had looked so lifeless. But he couldn't be, not Sam. He had been all right just a short while ago. He couldn't lie down there now and …

Dean had almost reached Sam when he felt hands pulling him back. Angrily he turned around to whoever was holding him. "Let go of me!"

"Let the medics do their job. There's nothing you can do. You're only in the way." The man who Dean had seen trying to help Sam before the medics had arrived spoke calmly to him.

"That's my brother." Dean said helplessly. He looked over at Sam and saw the medics working on him. There really was nothing he could do.

The man let go of Dean's arm. "I'm sorry. I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks."

"How does it look?" Dean asked, afraid of the answer. He suddenly noticed the blood on the guy's arms and clothes.

The man followed his gaze. "That's not all his. The girl is injured pretty bad as well."

Dean nodded slowly. Right now he could do nothing else but stare at the lifeless form of his brother lying on the ground. There was so much blood. He watched how the medics continued the CPR. After what felt like an eternity Sam's heart seemed to be beating by itself again. They stopped the heart massage and placed an oxygen mask over Sam's face. They injected him with something and then put an IV in his arm.

Dean watched all this in a haze. How could this have happened? Sam had been all right when he had left. Why had he even been in this car? Who was that woman? And why in god's name had he left his brother alone at that gas station? How could he have just driven away?

At that moment the medics put Sam on a stretcher and started carrying him up the slope. Dean immediately went over to them and helped. At least he could do something. When his eyes fell on his brother, it took all his willpower not to stop in his tracks. Instead he grabbed the stretcher even tighter. Sam's face was pale and there was a lot of blood running down it's side. He had a toby collar around his neck and he could see another huge looking wound on his brother's leg. There was so much blood …

He threw a glance back at the car … it looked so badly damaged it was a wonder that anyone had come out of it alive.

He helped the medics lift Sam into the ambulance and wanted to climb in behind them.

"I'm sorry, Sir. You can't come with us." One of the medics told him.

"That's my brother. I won't leave him." Dean said determinedly.

"I'm really sorry, but there's not enough room. That's your car over there, right? You can follow us. But we have to go now." The medic motioned for Dean to step back and then closed the door. Dean watched the ambulance drive away. For a moment he just stood there in shock … then he pulled himself together and quickly ran to this car. He wouldn't let Sam out of his sight again.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Dean didn't know for how long he had been sitting in the waiting area of the hospital. It must have been hours, but he couldn't say for sure. He had lost all track of time. His thoughts were focused on his brother who was being operated on right now. He had only spoken shortly to one of the doctors. He had said that Sam had internal bleedings and that they would have to operate on him. He had also mentioned a severe concussion, several broken ribs, a deep cut in his left leg, second degree burnings, cuts, bruises, smoke poisoning … the list seemed to have gone on and on. All that Dean really remembered was that they were worried about the amount of blood loss. That he was in a weak state and that his condition was critical.

Dean clenched his hands around his brother's backpack. He wasn't sure why he had taken it out of the car … Sam wouldn't need it now. But all the things most important to his brother were in there. He never left them in the motel, always took them with them. Dean didn't know what was in it, but he had his share of belongings in his own backpack and he would never leave it in a motel room as well. He suddenly remembered that his was still in the car. He hadn't even locked the doors when he had gotten out. But somehow that didn't matter. As long as he had Sam's … He would give it to him as soon as he would wake up.

If he would wake up.

He shook that thought off and got up. He couldn't sit still any longer. He wished there was anything he could do. He wasn't used to just sit and wait. That wasn't his style. If there was something that worried him, he went ahead and dealt with it. Now … he could do nothing but wait. He could do nothing to help Sam. He hated that.

After pacing through the waiting room for some time, Dean sagged back down on one of the chairs. Why was this taking so long? Why couldn't anyone tell him how Sam was doing? If he was even still alive?

He wished there would be anyone with him now. Anyone he could talk to. He wasn't used to being alone. He always had had his father and after he had disappeared he had been with Sam. Sam, his little brother who he had vowed to protect. He had only been a kid, but he still remembered the moment his father had put Sammy into his arms as if it was yesterday. His brother had been only a few months old then. He remembered the flames coming out of Sammy's room, the fear in his father's eyes …

"_Take care of your brother." _

His father's words still rang in his ears, even after 22 years. He had stopped counting how many times his father had repeated those words in the following years. He had promised then to take care of Sammy and he had always held on to it. Until now … He had walked away from Sam over some stupid disagreement and now Sam was fighting for his life.

He cast another glance at the door to the operating area and then got out his mobile. He quickly dialed his father's number … he knew the chances to actually reach him were non existent but he had to try. He needed his father now more than ever.

The phone rang a few times and then – as always during the last few weeks – the mailbox sprang on. Dean closed his eyes and swallowed down the lump in his throat. He had stopped counting all the messages they had left for their father … this was just one more in a long line.

"Hi Dad, uhm, if you hear this … Could you call back? I know … I know you have your reasons for not getting in touch with us, but, uhm …" His voice broke and for a moment he couldn't go on. He sniffed and took a deep breath. "I … We really need you. It's Sam, he … I think it's really bad, Dad. He had an accident and … they're operating on him for hours now and I still haven't heard anything. I don't know if … I don't think I can do this alone. So if you … if you hear this, could you just call? You won't even have to come, just call and … " He stopped. He knew this was useless. His father wouldn't call. He probably wouldn't even hear this. "Never mind." He whispered and ended the connection. He couldn't count on his father. He only had Sam.

This send a wave of despair through him he had never felt before. He couldn't lose his little brother. He just couldn't. Sam was all he had.

At that moment a doctor came through the door and approached him. "Mr. Turner?"

It took him a moment to remember that he was Mr. Turner. It was just another name they had made up to cover their tracks. He hadn't been Dean Winchester for a long time for anyone besides his family. What if he never would be again? With his Dad gone and Sam injured … maybe dead … no, not dead, just injured, he chastised himself … but would he ever be Dean Winchester again? When he realized that the doctor was waiting for any kind of response, he quickly got up. "Yes, that's me. How's Sam?" Hopeful and scared at the same time Dean waited for the doctor to tell him about his brother's condition.

"You're brother suffered a liver laceration caused by the broken ribs. That's why he was bleeding internally. We were able to stop that. The cut in his leg went very deep, but there is no bone fracture and it should heal without problems. He will limp for some time, but that will pass. He also has second degree burnings on his left arm, but that too should heal soon." The doctor paused for a moment to let Dean take in that information before he continued. "He has a severe concussion but I don't expect any complications because of it other than a pretty bad headache. He has three broken ribs and is also suffering from smoke poisoning. Add to that lots of cuts and bruises … you're brother is a lucky guy. If he had been found just a little while later …" He didn't finish his sentence, knowing by the look in Dean's eyes that he understood what he was saying. "His condition is stable now and he will be brought into his room in a few minutes, you can see him then. He will be drugged though and probably won't wake up for the next few hours."

"So … so he'll be all right?" Dean asked quietly.

"Yes, I expect a full recovery." The doctor smiled at him. "It might take a while, but he will be fine. A nurse will bring you to him when he's ready."

"Thanks." Dean looked gratefully at the doctor. In his eyes, this man had saved his brother's life. "Thank you."

After the doctor had left, Dean sank back in the chair. He put his head in his hands and silently started crying. All the worry and fear from the last few hours finally became too much for him and he couldn't stop the tears any longer. There was only one thought going through his mind now. He wouldn't be alone. He had nearly lost his brother, but Sam would live. He wouldn't be alone.

XXXXXXX

When Sam woke up, he felt as if he was floating. His head felt dizzy and his whole body seemed to be numb. It took him some time to notice someone holding his hand. His first thought was that it could only be Jessica. Who else was there to hold his hand? She wasn't dead. It had all just been a bad dream. He had had an accident. Maybe he had been in a coma or something. And none of it was true. His father hadn't disappeared. Dean hadn't come for him. They hadn't started hunting together. And Jess hadn't died.

"Sam?"

His brother's voice. His world came crushing down on him again ... it was all true. A stab of pain went through his heart and it hurt so much, for a moment he thought the pain would kill him. But it didn't. It never did. How many times would he have to go through this? How many times until his first thought after waking up wouldn't be that Jess was alive and it had all been just one bad dream? He didn't want to wake up like that anymore. It was easier to just stay asleep.

"Sam, can you hear me? Wake up, little brother."

He felt his hand being squeezed. Dean was holding his hand? His brother never did that. Or did he? Long forgotten memories came to his mind. He had been a kid, six, maybe seven. He had gotten seriously sick. Their Dad hadn't been home. And Dean had been at his side the whole time, holding his hand and telling him that it would be okay. His brother had taken care of him when his father couldn't.

He felt another squeeze. "It's all right, Sammy. You're gonna be okay. Could you just open your eyes for a moment? I … I'd just like to see you awake for a moment."

His brother's voice sounded pleading. Dean never pleaded.

Sam forced his eyes open. At first he saw nothing but a blurry version of his brother. He blinked a few times until the world came into focus.

„Dean?" Sam was surprised how hoarse and weak his voice sounded. "You … all right?"

"Am I all right?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I'm not the one who crashed down a steep slope and nearly burned alive in a car, so, yeah, I'm all right."

Sam blinked a few times again and tried to comprehend what his brother was saying. He had a hard time understanding anything as his head was still feeling all fuzzy. After a few moments though his brother's words hit home. So he really did have an accident. "Oh …"

"Oh?" Dean chuckled. "That's all you have to say?"

"I don't … really remember … anything." Sam said quietly, his speech slightly slurred.

"That's no wonder considering what happened." Dean's voice sounded more serious than he had planned. He didn't want Sam to know how worried he had been. Or how worried he still was. Despite his relief to see Sam finally awake, he was still scared by how weak and pale his brother looked. "You get better fast, all right?"

"Sure." Sam was close to falling back asleep again. "I'll be up and … running in … no … ti…" He didn't got to finish his sentence as sleep claimed hold over him again.

"Sure you will, Sammy." Dean whispered. He looked at his brother for a moment, then grasped Sam's hand again and hold onto it tightly. He would make sure that Sam was going to be all right and if it was the last thing he ever did.

XXXXXXX

The next time Sam woke up, the first thing he noticed was a throbbing pain in his head. And in his chest. His leg was hurting as well … in fact, everything hurt. He kept his eyes closed. He wanted to go back to sleep. There would be no pain in sleep … He wondered slightly why he was in pain after all, but then he vaguely remembered waking up in a hospital and Dean telling him he had been in an accident. Not that he remembered having an accident, but that would surely explain the pain. Figuring that he wouldn't be able to do much in a hospital anyway, he decided that it would be okay if he fell back asleep again.

Then he heard the footsteps. Someone was pacing through his room. Despite the pain he was in, Sam had to smile. Dean was getting restless already. He had never been good at waiting and Sam was grateful that he had stayed at his side nevertheless. He felt much safer knowing that his brother was with him. He decided that it was worth to stay awake for a few minutes to let his brother know he was okay. Knowing Dean, he was probably worried about him, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed here all this time. He wondered slightly how long he had been here and how bad he was hurt.

Slowly Dean opened his eyes. Much to his surprise he found his brother sleeping in a chair next to his bed, his head lying on his chest. When he looked around the room, he saw a woman walking from one side of the room to the next. What the hell …

"Jade?" What was she doing here?

"Sam?" Jade whirled around to him and stared at him with wide eyes. "You can see me?"

"Well, you're standing right in front of me, so yeah, ... I can see you." He practically had to force the words to leave his mouth and he was surprised at how hoarse his voice sounded. He started coughing as the words rasped in his throat. He held his chest in pain until the coughing fit subsided. "Man, this sucks."

"This sucks? Try waking up and looking at your half dead body!" Jade nearly screamed at him.

"What?" Sam cast a short look at his brother, wondering why her yelling hadn't woken him up. She was obviously close to hysterical and he didn't feel up to dealing with that. But Dean didn't wake up. Sighing Sam turned his attention back on Jade. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not in my body. My body is lying a few rooms down this corridor, hooked to several machines, not even able to breath on my … it's own. God!" She rubbed her hands through her hair in frustration. "No one can see me. You're the first one to talk to me since the accident."

Sam looked at her completely dumbfounded. He wished he hadn't woken up. This was not something he was ready to deal with right now.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Jade demanded.

Sam tried to come up with something reasonable to say, but couldn't find the right words. What was there to say? He wasn't even sure she was really here. His head hurt like hell. Maybe he had a concussion or something and was just imagining this.

"Hello! I'm still here!" Jade now looked at him furiously.

Or maybe not. "Uhm, okay, what's …" He cleared his throat. "What's the last thing you remember?"

He knew it was lame. But it was all he could think of right now. His mind wasn't working properly yet.

"You believe me?" Jade asked hesitantly.

"I'm not sure, but I've seen weirder things happen." Sam replied quietly.

"Weirder than this?" Jade looked at him doubtfully.

"Believe me." Sam sighed. "So ... what's the last thing you remember?"

Jade took a deep breath. "We had an accident and ..."

"We?" Sam looked at her confused. He and Jade had been in the same car?

"Yes, I picked you up at the gas station. Please don't tell me you forgot about that." She groaned.

"Well ..." Sam's expression told her everything. He really had no idea why he was lying in hospital, hurting all over, much less why he should have been in a car with Jessica's sister.

"Great, that's just great." She let out a frustrated sigh before she continued to tell him what she remembered. "You're brother left without you and I offered you a ride. A few minutes later we crashed down the slope. The next thing I know is that I'm outside the car ... I swear I never drive a car without being buckled in ever again ... I find myself lying on the ground and I see the car. It's on fire and you're still in it, not moving. I try to get up, but I can't and then I must have blacked out or something. When I woke up again, I was able to move, I ran to you, tried to get you out, but ..." Here she stopped and looked at Sam with desperate eyes. "I reached just through the door. I couldn't grab it ... I couldn't grab anything. God, Sam, I ... I thought I would have to watch you die."

"Good thing you didn't." Sam replied in a hoarse voice. It was kinda scary listening to her telling him what had happened to them and not being able to remember anything. Damn it, why couldn't he remember? Suddenly he was hit by another coughing fit and he nearly doubled over in pain. He wished someone would come in here and give him something against it.

Hearing his brother coughing, Dean finally startled up from his sleep. "Sam?" Seeing the pain in his brother's face, he jumped up immediately and held Sam at his shoulder, rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him.

"You're all right?" He asked at the same time as Jade did, although he wasn't aware of that.

"Yeah." Sam pressed out between coughs. "Just … hurts."

"I'll get a nurse."

Sam was close to hold his brother back, his stupid pride not wanting Dean to worry about him. But he was hurting. A lot. And he knew that Dean knew so there was really no need to stop him. So he let him go, hoping that he would come back fast with a nurse who would give him something. Anything to make the pain stop. By now his whole body seemed to be hurting. His head, chest, leg, arm … there didn't seem to be a single spot on his body that hadn't been hurt in the accident.

He was finally able to stop coughing and sank bank onto the pillow, closing his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep again.

"Hey!"

Only there was this little problem he had forgotten about for a moment. He sighed quietly and opened his eyes again. "You think we ... could postpone this talk ... to later?" He choked out between gasps. This last coughing fit had left him quite breathless.

"Uhm, excuse me, I'm out of my body!" She glared at him angrily. "You really think this can wait?"

"Maybe you're just in a coma, this could be a normal reaction." He mumbled.

"A normal reaction? Have you lost your mind? I'M NOT IN MY BODY!" She screamed at him.

Sam shut his eyes as her loud voice only increased his headache.

"Hey, Sammy, you're all right?" Dean had stepped back into the room. He didn't like the still painful expression his brother wore.

"I'm fine." Sam lied. He just couldn't help it. He hated admitting to Dean that he wasn't all right.

"I can see that." Dean shook his head. "The nurse is on her way. You should feel better in a few minutes."

"Good." Sam opened his eyes again and looked hesitantly from Dean to Jade and back. His brother hadn't even looked at her once. He figured Dean couldn't see her. So why could he? "Uhm, Dean … have you ever … heard something from, uh, out of the body experiences? I mean … during a coma … or something …" His voice trailed off and he looked questioningly at his big brother.

"Why? Did you have one?" Dean asked grinning. His grin faded quickly though when he noticed that Sam wasn't joking.

"No, not me, uhm … it's more of a general question." He wasn't ready yet to tell his brother that he could see Jade standing next to his bed. It was obvious that Dean was unaware of her presence.

"Tell him!" Jade demanded.

Sam chose to ignore her for the moment.

Dean shrugged his shoulders at his brother's question. "Never heard of it, but it might be possible. With all we've seen so far, I wouldn't say it's impossible."

"Mhmm." Sam thought about that for a moment. "Uhm, do you know what happened to Jade?"

"Jade? Is that the woman you were with? How did that happen anyway?" Dean asked. He had almost forgotten about her. He hadn't even checked to see if she was still alive.

"I met her … at the gas station. She …" He inhaled deeply before he continued. He'd never thought that simply talking could be so exhausting. "She's Jessica's sister."

Dean's jaw fell open and he stared at his brother in surprise. "Jessica? The Jessica? You're Jessica?"

"Do you know anyone else with that name?"

"No." Dean sat back down on his chair. "Wow, talking about coincidence. What was she doing here?"

"I have no idea." Sam replied, throwing a questioning look in Jade's direction.

"Didn't she say anything?"

"We don't get along too well."

"Then why were you in her car?" Dean wanted to know.

"I have no idea." Sam sighed. And he really didn't know. He was absolutely clueless how he had ended up in Jade's car. "So, how is she doing?"

"I don't know." Dean admitted, feeling slightly guilty that he hadn't bothered once to check on her. "But I find out as soon as you're feeling better."

"I am feeling better." Sam replied quickly while suppressing another cough and holding his chest that started to hurt again at the effort.

"I can see that."

At that moment the nurse entered the room. She exchanged a few words with Sam and Dean while she administered a new pain medication into Sam's IV. He started feeling sleepy again after only a few moments and his eyes fell close again without him being able to do anything against it.

Dean watched his brother until he was sure that he was sleeping peacefully and then left the room to find out what happened to Jade.

Jade watched Sam fall back to sleep and the hopelessness returned to her. The only one in this hospital who could see her was injured so badly that he was hardly able to stay awake. How was she supposed to get out of this mess if she couldn't even ask for help?

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

When Sam woke up the next time, he felt better, but as he was hardly feeling any pain, he figured he had the meds to thank for that. He had his eyes still closed, but he was aware of someone else in the room. He thought about opening his eyes to look who it was, but was too afraid to see Jade again. He was hoping that he had only been dreaming it all, but talking to her had felt pretty real. But why should he have been in her car? And why would he be the only one who could see her?

He wished he could remember anything about the accident or what had happened right before that. But the last thing he remembered was him and Dean fighting … damn, he owed his big brother an apology. He knew he had been acting like an idiot at the gas station. Dean had been right. They couldn't just ignore all signs of supernatural activities just because their father had chosen to walk out on them.

He was so surprised at his last thought that his eyes fluttered open. It was the first time he had openly admitted to himself that his father might have left voluntarily. That thought left him kind of shaken. So far they had always assumed that something must have happened to him, that something bad was stopping him from getting in touch with them …

"Finally!"

Groaning Sam closed his eyes again. So it hadn't been a dream.

"Don't you dare fall back asleep again, Sam Winchester. Or whatever your real name is." Jade snapped at him.

"What are you talking about now?" Sam opened his eyes again and looked at her in confusion.

"I have your chart right in front of me. Samuel Harold Turner."

"Harold?" He was going to kill Dean.

"So you not only left Jessica without an explanation, you also lied to her THE WHOLE TIME!" She practically threw her last words at him in a loud voice.

Too loud for Sam, he could already feel the throbbing pain returning to his head. "I never lied to Jessica." He said quietly while rubbing the side of his head with his hand.

"You just gave her a wrong name." Jade responded cynically.

"I am Sam Winchester. That name there … " He vaguely pointed in the direction where he figured the chart with his false name was. "… it's not real."

Jade looked at him for a moment, unsure how to respond to that. "So what? You're lying to the hospital?"

Sam was tempted to tell her that he simply wasn't health insured, but he was afraid a nurse or doctor might overhear, so he kept his mouth shut. Admitting an insurance fraud while being a patient in this hospital probably wasn't such a great idea. "I'll explain that later."

"Right." Jade chuckled harshly. "I bet that's what you told Jess too every time she caught you lying."

"I NEVER lied to Jessica." Sam spoke with such vehemence and glared at her so furiously, that it left her speechless. He had tried to sit up, but a stabbing pain in his chest reminded him of his injuries and groaning he fall back on the bed again. Through clenched teeth he kept talking, not taking his eyes of Jade. He wanted to make sure once and for all that she believed him about this. "I might not have told her every little detail about my family …" Like the fact that my mother was killed by a demon or that I spend my years growing up watching and helping my father hunt demons and evil spirits, Sam thought to himself. "But I never lied to her. Not once."

"Okay, fine. Whatever." Jade looked at him, unsure what to think of all this. She cursed herself for believing him, but she couldn't help it. He didn't look like he was lying. And Jess had never complained about Sam lying to her either. But he had always been a mystery to her. Jade only knew the little bit that Jessica had told her. That his mother had died when he had still been a baby, that he grew up with his father and older brother and that his relationship with his father was rather strained. She had always believed there had to be more to it. Sometimes, when he thought no one was watching him, Sam had this look in his eyes ... She had seen it more than once and her heart broke for him every time. He looked so sad then ... and lost.

"Hey, you're awake. It's about time."

Both Jade and Sam startled at Dean's sudden appearance.

"Dean, hi." Sam cleared his throat and waved weakly at his older brother. "How long was I out?"

"Only about 12 hours, I'd say." Dean replied after checking his watch.

"You're kidding, right?" Sam asked with wide eyes.

"See how long I have been out of my body? That can't be healthy." Jade called out in frustration.

Sam rolled his eyes. He wished she would disappear for a while. She really was starting to go on his nerves. "So when can we get out of here?"

"We?" Dean chuckled. "Well, I can leave any time I want. You on the other hand … Doc said something about a week at least."

"I can't stay here for a whole week!"

"Oh yes, you can. Trust me, this is better than the shady motel I'm staying in." Dean grinned. Truth was, he couldn't wait to see his brother getting released out of here, but at the same time he was glad Sam had to stay here for a while longer. At least this way he would get all the rest he needed. As soon as he was out … there was always one thing or another that kept them from really ever resting.

Sam mumbled something but it was too quiet for Dean to understand. From the look on his brother's face though he could very well imagine. He didn't look too happy.

"Well, that's just fair that as long as I have to stay here, you do too." Jade grinned mischievously.

Sam rolled his eyes at the prospect of being with her the whole time he had to stay here.

"Did you find out anything about Jade?" He asked, hoping she would make a fast recovery and would leave him alone.

"Yeah, uhm ..."

Dean's grin faded and Sam could read from his expression that what he was about to say wouldn't be good.

"She's in a coma since the accident. I spoke to her doctor ... if anyone asks she's our cousin..."

"You truly are one family." Jade shook her head, looking at the two as if they were the most despicable people she had ever met.

"Oh shut up." Sam snapped at her.

"What?" Surprised Dean looked at his younger brother.

Sam blushed. Damn, had he just said that aloud? "I didn't ... uhm, I didn't mean you."

"Then who did you mean, Sam?" The look of surprise in Dean's eyes changed into worry. His brother was acting weird.

"My head, uhm ... the stupid headache is driving me nuts. What else did her doctor say?" Sam tried to change the topic. He hoped Dean wouldn't push on it. He still wasn't ready to tell him about Jade's ghost or spirit or whatever it was that was spending it's time in his hospital room. If she was just his imagination caused by all the drugs he was on right now than he didn't need Dean to make fun about him for that.

Dean looked thoughtfully at his brother for a moment. Then he shrugged and decided to forget about the comment for now. Sam had been through a lot and he had been given lots of medication the last few hours. He was just a bit confused, that was all. But he would keep a closer eye on him just in case. "He said they don't know what is causing the coma. She has a pretty bad concussion, but no brain damage or anything. There aren't any real life threatening injuries as well. A few broken ribs, broken leg, cuts and bruises, but that's it. She should have woken up hours ago, but she didn't."

"Hmm …" Sam thought about that for a moment and cast a careful look at Jade. She looked at him and even though she wasn't saying anything, her expression told him clearly what she was thinking. She was obviously annoyed at his refusal to talk to Dean about this. And she was worried about herself. He sighed, knowing he couldn't keep this any longer from his brother.

"What are you thinking about?" Dean asked.

"Uhm … I think I might now the reason ... why she's not waking up. I could be wrong though. I'm not really sure." Sam stammered. He knew what he was about to tell Dean sounded stupid, but there had to be a reason that she wasn't waking up and maybe him seeing her was more than just his imagination. And why would he imagine her of all people anyway? He didn't even like her very much.

"You're a doctor now?" Dean joked.

"She's here."

"Who?"

"Jade."

"Of course she's here. Her room is just down the corridor." Dean looked at his brother confused.

"No, I mean she's here in this room." Sam explained, blushing at the same time. He could tell his brother was thinking he was nuts.

"In this room." Dean stared at Sam as if he'd lost his mind.

"Yeah … over there." Sam pointed at Jade who was standing next to the window right now, waiting for Dean to make a smartass comment about his mental health.

Dean looked at the direction Sam had pointed to … he saw nothing but the wall and window.

"You must have hit your head harder than we thought. Maybe I should get the doctor." He said slowly, not sure if he should start worrying about his brother or try to believe him. After all this wouldn't be the first strange thing they had encountered so far.

"Great. So your brother is just as big an idiot as you are." Jade hissed.

"It would make sense, Dean." Sam said, ignoring Jade. "That would be a reason for why she's not waking up from the coma. Her spirit … has left her body."

"Yeah, but why? I mean, if she had died, okay, I'd get that. But she's still alive. And she only had a stupid accident, no reason for her spirit to go wandering, is it?" Dean looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, maybe there was a reason …"

"Such as?"

"Distress maybe?" Sam knew that explanation sounded lame, but as Dean he couldn't really think of any reason why Jade's spirit wouldn't be in her body. It had just been an accident, nothing demonic was involved in it. So why … "How did the accident happen anyway?" He suddenly asked, an idea forming in his head. Maybe a demon had been involved somehow. In their world, anything was possible.

"I don't know. Police report only said that she lost control over the car without reason and then you crashed down the slope."

"I didn't just lose control like that. We were hit!" Jade called out agitated.

"She ... I think we were hit by something." Sam said quietly.

"I thought you don't remember anything about the accident?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't ... I mean ... I think ..." Sam let out a frustrated sigh. Damn it, why couldn't he remember? "I don't remember. But she does."

"She ... as in the invisible Jade?"

"Look Dean, I know it sounds strange, but ... could we just assume she really is here? Cause I can see her standing over there and she's looking really pissed right now."

"She does, huh?" Dean looked thoughtfully at his brother. He didn't look confused ... but why could only he see Jade's ghost? That didn't really make any sense. But for the sake of his brother he would at least think about it. "Okay, let's assume she's real ... what else is she saying?"

Sam glanced back at Jade, feeling somehow relieved that Dean was willing to believe him.

Jade seemed to be as relieved as Sam, as she didn't look as angry as before anymore.

"Well, what else do you remember?" Sam asked when she didn't say anything.

Dean watched with an awkward feeling as his brother was talking to the empty space in front of him. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was all Sam's imagination. Why should Jade's spirit have left her body? That didn't make sense. If that was true than that would mean all coma patients had a spirit walking around. And that thought gave him a creepy feeling. He didn't even want to start imagine how many patients in this hospital were currently lying in a coma.

"She said she didn't see anything, but we were definitely hit by something. She said it felt like a car or something."

Sam's words pulled Dean out of his thoughts.

"You think she might be lying?" He asked quietly. "Do you remember being hit?"

"I'm not lying!" Jade yelled offended.

"I don't remember anything." Sam said at the same time, though less agitated. "But I don't think she's lying."

"Thank you." Jade said to Sam and then shot an angry look in Dean's direction.

"Okay, so you were hit by an invisible car then." Dean said sarcastically. But the moment his words had left his mouth, he realized that that in fact could have happened.

Sam realized the same.

"That's it!" They both called out at the same time.

"What?" Jade looked from Sam to Dean and back to Sam, as he was the only one who would give her an answer. She had no idea what they were talking about.

"An invisible car … we should try to find out if there were more accidents like that in the past." Sam said excitedly. "You think you could get my laptop in here?"

"Oh, that's already here." Dean said. Proudly he opened the small closet under the nightstand next to Sam's bed and pulled out his backpack. "All your stuff is here."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise. "When did you bring these?"

"Ah, I figured you might want some things out of it, so …" Dean's voice trailed off and he handed the backpack to his brother. He didn't meet Sam's eyes … he didn't want him to see how much it still hurt to remember those first few hours after the accident when all he had from his brother had been this backpack. "Here … see if you can find something out. I'll go and check out Jade's car. It should be on the police impound yard. Shouldn't be too hard to get in there." He quickly changed the topic.

"Not for you anyway." Sam grinned. "Thanks Dean." He added quietly, pointing at his bag. It really meant a lot to him that his brother had thought of giving it to him without having to ask for it.

"No problem. See you later." Dean had almost reached the door when he called back over his shoulder "And don't hang on the internet the whole time I'm gone. You still need to rest."

He shut the door behind him before Sam could respond anything. For a moment he stood in the corridor, the door knob still in his hand. He hated leaving Sam here. Since he had been admitted to he hospital, the only times Dean had left his side had been when he had checked on Jade or talked to Sam's doctor and the police. He didn't want to leave his little brother alone ... the last time he had left him behind it had nearly killed him. His rational mind told him that Sam was more than safe here in the hospital, but it still tore his heart apart. It was his job to look out for Sammy and he had already failed once. He didn't want to make that mistake again. But he also knew that he couldn't hover over his brother forever. So he would have to get his grip together and concentrate on the case ... if there even was a case, he thought sighing. Taking a deep breath, he let go of the door knob and walked away from Sam's room. It felt like one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

Sam stared at the closed door with a small smile on his lips, his brothers words still in his ears. As much as he hated Dean hovering over him like he was still a child, he also loved that overprotective side of his brother. It made him feel safe.

After a moment Sam turned his attention back on Jade. He found her staring at him as if he had two heads.

"What?" He asked.

"An invisible car? Have you both lost your mind?"

Sam bit his lip. Of course that theory would sound rather strange to her.

"Well, you haven't seen anything, have you?" Sam argued.

"This isn't funny. I don't have time for your jokes. Something is happening to me and I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT IS." She yelled again.

Sam moaned quietly. Her yelling wasn't really helping his still throbbing head. "Could you stop that? Please?" He pointed at his head and hoped she would calm down a bit. Or at least stay quiet.

Jade took a deep breath. She looked like she would explode any minute, but she did stay quiet.

"Okay, uhm … did anything … strange … happen to you lately?" Sam asked hesitantly, careful not to get her even more upset.

"What do you mean by strange?" Jade looked at him suspiciously.

There was something in her eyes … it reminded Sam of some of the people he had talked do on their various hunts in the past. People who had come in touch with something supernatural, but were afraid to admit it so that no one would call them crazy.

"Something that can't be explained. Like …" He swallowed, preparing himself for another yelling from her. "Like a ghost maybe?"

Jade seemed to freeze at his words. She looked at him for a long time before she said anything. "A ghost?"

"Yeah. Or something like that. You know, something that, well … can't be explained." Sam said vaguely. Of course he could give her a long list with things that couldn't be explained, ghosts being just one of many supernatural phenomenon he had encountered in his life. But he knew Jade to be a very rational thinking person and he didn't think it would go over too well with her. She had to be the one to start with this. If he did it, she would never be willing to believe it.

"You believe in ghosts?" Jade watched Sam carefully, searching for any signs that he was trying to trick her or make a joke out of this. She couldn't find any.

"Yes, I do." Sam told her quietly.

She didn't know why, but Jade believed him. With anyone else, she might have thought he was teasing her, but with Sam she could tell he was being serious about this.

"I … " She swallowed. "I might have seen one."

"When?" Sam inquired.

"A few days ago. I, uhm … I was staying at my grandparents house. She lives just outside this town. My grandma, she ... she has this Ouija board. Jess and I used to play with it when we were kids and … and …" She looked down at the floor, not able to meet Sam's eyes as she spoke the next words. She felt like a complete idiot. "I used it to talk to Jess."

Sam froze. Whatever he had expected her to say, this wasn't it. "Wh-why?" He choked out.

"I …" She looked up again and in her eyes Sam saw the same pain and despair he felt every time his thoughts went to Jessica. "I wanted to know if she was really dead. There wasn't even a body, Sam. The police called and said there had been a fire and Jessica had died in it, that witnesses had seen her go in the apartment and had heard her screams, but … but there was no body. We buried an empty coffin and I … I never … I needed to know for sure that she was really dead. So I tried to call her."

"And did you …" Sam swallowed as the lump that had build in his throat kept him from talking properly. "Did you talk to her?" He finally whispered. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes. He had stopped counting how many times he had wished to talk to Jessica again. Just one time, one word would have been enough. He would give anything to hear her voice again. But he had seen her dying … he knew she was dead and whatever he might have been able to call back with a Ouija board might not have been his Jessica. Not the woman he fell in love with.

"No." Jade shook her head and her whispered voice pulled Sam out of his thoughts. "But … I called something."

TBC

**A.N.: Thank you all for reading. And a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed ... your feedback means a lot to me :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A.N.: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. It means so much to me :-) _**

* * *

Silently Dean stood in front of the damaged car that had been brought to the local police impound yard. He couldn't believe his brother had been in there, let alone had come out of it alive. It looked so badly damaged and burned out, it was a wonder Sam was still with him. He tried to ignore the knot in his stomach and reminded himself that Sam was alive, in hospital, yes, badly hurt and bruised, definitely yes, but he was alive.

Taking a deep breath, Dean went to the car to take a closer look. He checked the driver's side first; Sam had said .. or better he had said that Invisible Jade had told him that she had felt they had been hit by something. Dean shook his head at that thought … he still wasn't sure if he should believe she really existed.

Looking at the car, Dean couldn't really tell if there was any proof that another car had driven into them, although he figured the damage should be more heavily on this side if they really had been hit by something. He let his hand trace over the dented door … and held his breath when he really did find something. There were traces of sulfur on the door. So something evil had been involved here.

"Great." He mumbled, not sure if he should take this as good news or not. Thinking about it, he decided this was good news. His brother hadn't nearly died because of a simple car accident. Something evil had done this and somehow that took away some of his fear. It took more than a stupid car accident to get a Winchester hurt.

It didn't take away his guilt though … if he had stayed with Sam, his brother would have never been in that car.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Cursing under his breath, Dean got up. He saw a small man standing only a few feet from him. He was in his mid forties and was wearing a blue overall. He didn't look like a cop, Dean noticed relieved. Actually, he didn't even look too clever.

"Hi, uhm, I'm Josh Homme." Dean said smiling and held out his hand to the man. "I'm from Allman Insurance's. This car belongs to our insurant and we just want to rule out that someone else was involved in this accident. You know, find someone else to pay for this." He grinned, pointing at the wrecked car.

"Well, you can't just come here like you want." The man said, looking uncertainly at Dean.

"Of course, I know. I'm sorry, I should have called you first, uh …"

"Manny." He cleared his throat. "Manny Lippowitz."

Dean bit his lip to suppress a laugh. This was just too good. "Well, Manny, I hope I haven't offended you in any way. I can come back later if this isn't a good time. Although my boss will be pissed." He smirked, casting a glance at Manny indicating that all bosses were alike really.

Apparently Manny wasn't too fond of his employer either. "Well, now that you're here … take a look if you like. I don't want you to get in any trouble. But next time you call." He pointed his finger at Dean and looked at him all earnest.

"Sure, yeah, absolutely." Dean nodded sincerely. "Thanks."

Manny nodded his head shortly, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and walked away.

"Well, that was just too easy." Dean grinned. Then he turned his attention back on the car, trying to find any more traces of sulfur. When he looked inside, his grin froze on his face though. There was a lot of blood on the Passenger seat … Sam's blood. Images of Sam lying on the cold ground, looking as pale as the snow around him and having blood all over him flashed through his mind and again he saw the medics trying to resuscitate his brother. He had come so close to losing him …

Dean shuddered and swallowed down the lump that had build in his throat. He tried to concentrate on the task at hand … finding anymore signs that the demon, spirit or whatever had been inside this car. He checked every corner, but couldn't find any more traces of sulfur. Relieved he crawled out again. At least whatever had caused this hadn't been after Sam or else it would have surely gotten into the car after the accident.

Feeling slightly relieved Dean turned away from the car.

"You sure take your job seriously." Out of nowhere Manny had appeared in front of him again, blowing smoke from his cigarette in Dean's face. "You insurance people really try hard not to pay for any damages, do you."

Suppressing a cough, Dean put on his best smile. "Uh, you know, if the boss' happy, I'm happy. Though there doesn't appear to be any sign that another car was involved. Do accidents like this often happen on that road?"

"No, not really. It's a pretty safe road actually. There was one ugly accident a few years back, but that's it. Usually it's just the drunk people who get hurt there." Manny's face lit up. "Hey, maybe she was drunk. You wouldn't have to pay if she was drunk, would you?"

"Yeah, you're right. I hadn't even thought about that. Thanks, Manny. I'll sure look into that." Dean tried to look as grateful as possible. He had to stifle another laugh at the proud expression on Manny's face. "You know, you should think about going into the insurance business. You look like that could be the right job for you."

"You think?" Manny asked surprised. From the look in his eyes, he already pictured himself making a career as an insurance agent.

"Sure, yeah, think about it. So, uhm, what about that accident you mentioned? What happened there?" Dean asked, trying to sound like someone who was just interested in the latest gossip.

"It was a hit and run. About five years ago. Local woman died in the accident. Her car had been pushed off the street and she bled to death. Happened during the night and she wasn't found until noon the next day. She was long dead then." Manny told him.

Dean tried to push off any images of Sam lying in that car all night, slowly bleeding to death. Sam would have never lied there that long. Dean had already been on his way back. He would have found him in time.

_"You're brother is a lucky guy. If he had been found just a little while later …"_

The doctor's words rang in Dean's ears. What if he hadn't found him in time? What if that guy hadn't come by and pulled Sam out of the car before it was too late? What if …

Shaking those thoughts off, Dean turned his attention back to Manny, forcing his voice to sound steady and hide the tremble he felt at the thought of Sam. "Really. Wow, that's bad, man. They never caught the guy who did it?"

"No, never." Manny replied, unaware of Dean's distress and happy to get a chance to tell that story to someone who hadn't heard it by now a hundred times already.

"I guess some guys get away with everything, huh? You ever wonder who did it?" Dean asked.

"Well, I looked at all the cars pretty closely that days, you know, if any of them had any suspicious damages or something. Didn't see a thing. Don't think it was a local." He said, looking important.

"Hm, well, I gotta go. Thanks for the help again, man." Dean waved at him shortly and then walked away to his car. He wished there would be more Mannys in the world. That would make his job so much easier.

At least they had some clue now where to start looking. He would check out that accident Manny had talked about, see where that lead him.

XXXXXXX

"What do you mean you called something?" Sam asked slowly, hundreds of different ideas what she could have called running through his mind.

"I'm not sure. There was …. there was something in the room. The candles went out and … and it got really cold. And …"

"And what?" Sam urged her to go on.

"There was this whisper …" Jade tried to put up a brave façade, but Sam could tell she was scared.

"Could you understand what it was saying?"

"No, not really … something like time to pay, but that doesn't make sense right?" She laughed nervously.

"Well …" Sam decided not to get into that right now. She already looked worried enough. "Anything else?"

"I … I think that … God, Sam, do you really believe all this?" For the second time today Jade looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Hey, you're the one telling me this. I'm just listening." Sam objected.

"Yeah, but … shouldn't you doubt what I'm telling you? I know I would."

"Well, I'm not you. Thank god." Sam smirked. "So, what else?"

Jade looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. She didn't know what to think about this. Was he just making fun of her? Or had he really seen weirder things than this happening. After all, he had accepted the fact that she was like a ghost at the moment fairly quickly. And to a certain degree, so had his brother. She decided to take the risk. She could always claim later that she had been lying in a coma and had never said any of the things she was about to say.

If she ever would wake up …

She shook that thought off and took a deep breath. "The lights went out and when my eyes got accustomed to the darkness, I … I … I think I saw a woman."

"Uhu." Sam nodded slowly.

"That's all you have to say?" Jade asked with wide eyes. She had expected him to start laughing at that point.

"Well, you obviously called a spirit … did it say anything else? What did it look like?" Sam asked quietly.

Jade looked at him for a long moment. She still couldn't believe he was just believing her like this. "She … or it … whatever … she didn't say anything else. My grandma came in and she disappeared."

"Did you see her again after that?"

"No." Jade swallowed. The memory of that night send shivers through her spine. "What do you think that means?"

Before Sam could reply anything, his mobile rang. He bent down to get it out of his bag that was still lying on the floor. He winced in pain as his sore ribs protested against the movement and Jade quickly walked up to him to help, remembering at the last moment that there wasn't really anything she could do.

"I hate this." She muttered, taking a few steps back. Sam cast her a grateful look anyway and a moment later he was finally able to fish the phone out of the bag by himself.

"Dean?"

"Hey. You're supposed to be resting." Dean said as soon as he heard his brother's voice.

Sam chuckled. "I was going to, but then the phone rang. What did you find out?" He asked more seriously.

"Did I wake you?"

Sam was surprised at the question. Was that guilt he had heard in Dean's voice? "No, you didn't. I was still talking to Jade. Apparently she called a spirit with a Quija board. A woman … it said it was time to pay. Then the grandmother showed up and the spirit disappeared."

"A woman, huh? Did she say what it looked like?" Dean asked.

Sam was relieved his brother's voice sounded like his normal self again. He must have imagined the guilt part. Dean never felt guilty for waking him up. "Not yet." He responded to Dean's question. "What did you find out?"

"Well, the car looks pretty wracked. And I found sulfur on it."

"Really." Sam nodded. "So a spirit was involved. Must have been whoever she called … but why?"

"Well, did she forget to pay any pills lately?" Dean joked, referring to the spirits remark about the time to pay.

Sam rolled his eyes. "You found anything else?"

"I talked to this guy, Manny, he said there was an accident on that road a few years back, hit and run. A woman died … bled to death until she was found. Maybe it's the same one. Jade called her spirit and now it wants revenge."

"By pushing cars off the street?" Sam asked doubtfully.

"What is he saying?" Jade wanted to know. So far she had only been able to follow Sam's side of the conversation. And she was dying to know what his brother had found out. "Who is pushing cars off the street? I told you we were hit!" She pointed out triumphantly.

Again Sam rolled his eyes … between his brother and Jade he wasn't sure which one could be more annoying.

"Who knows how those things are ticking." Dean shrugged. "I'm on my way back. Maybe you can find something out about that accident on the internet … or better, I'll go to the library and do it there. This way you can get some rest."

"Don't be ridiculous. It'll go much fast if I do it from here. So skip the library and get back here." With that said, Sam ended the connection before Dean could object in any way. His brother was acting weird. First the hint of guilt when he thought he had woken him up and now he wanted to do the research in the library so he could get some sleep? And Dean thought he was the one acting weird with talking to a ghost and all that.

"So?" Jade looked at him expectantly.

"Well, we have some leads. Have you ever heard about an accident a few years ago? A woman died, happened on the same road we were on." Sam asked while he turned on is laptop and began searching for the local newspaper online. There should be some mention of the accident.

"No, I never heard of it. But I haven't been here in years. After my grandfather died … my grandma shut everyone out. She refused to leave the house or let anyone come visit her anymore and … well, we kinda lost contact." Jade said quietly, regret and guilt audible in her voice.

"How did your grandfather die?" Sam asked quietly.

"He had a heart attack. It happened so sudden … he never had any heart problems or anything and then one day he just collapsed in the garden." Jade told him in a sad voice. "It happened years ago but I still miss him. Jess and I always had a great time here … we used to come here every summer. We even had our own rooms."

Sam stilled at the mention of Jess' name. After her death he hadn't thought he would ever learn anything new about her … and now finding out about the time she had spend at her grandparents with her sister; it was just a small detail, but it had been a part of Jess's life and he was glad to learn about that. He could almost see her telling him about it herself. Her eyes always beamed with joy when she talked about her family and she had this smile on her lips …

"I miss her too." Jade said quietly as if she had read Sam's thought.

Sam looked up at her and their eyes locked … and for the first time Sam felt that he and Jade had actually something in common.

They looked at each other for a long time and it wasn't until they suddenly became aware of what they were doing that they both startled and looked the other way. Sam squirmed uncomfortably on his bed while Jade took a few steps away from him.

"So, uhm …" Sam cleared his throat. "Did the spirit look like this woman?" Trying to ignore the awkwardness between them, Sam pointed at his laptop. He had finally found some information about the accident Dean had talked about.

Jade hesitated a moment before she slowly went to Sam. Trying not to get too close to him, she bend over to look at the monitor. She gasped when her eyes fell on the picture

"Oh my god … that's her." She whispered.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh my god … that's her." Jade whispered.

"Good, uhm, so now we know what we're dealing with." Sam stated quietly.

"What?" Jade looked at him dumbfounded. She had just identified a dead woman as the woman that had appeared in her room a few days ago. A woman who had been dead for several years now. The least she could expect was a little bit more surprise from Sam's side!

"What what?" Sam asked surprised.

"Is that all you have to say?" Jade demanded.

"I told you, Dean and I have encountered some very strange things over the years ... ghosts and spirits aren't really that hard to believe after that." Sam said quietly, hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions.

Jade looked at him curious, but before she could demand any further explanation from him, the door to his room opened and the Sheriff stepped inside.

Jade saw how Sam tensed up immediately … not enough for any stranger to notice, but she knew him well enough by now to see the difference.

"Good Day, Mr. Turner. I'm Deputy Sheriff Dave Haden. How are you today?" The unexpected visitor introduced himself.

"Hi, uhm, I feel good, considering ... still a bit drowsy from the meds though." Sam replied, his voice suddenly sounding a lot weaker than just a few moments ago when he had talked with Jade.

She cast him a surprised look … than realizing that the Sheriff wouldn't be able to hear her anyway Jade didn't withhold the question on her mind. "You have something to hide from the police?"

Sam ignored her and turned all his attention at the Sheriff who looked at him sympathetically.

"Well, that's to be expected. Do you think you're up to a few questions?" Haden asked.

"Yeah, sure, uhm, but I'm afraid I don't remember much." Sam told him regretfully.

"Why don't we start with what you do remember? How do you know the driver of the car you were in, Jade Moore?"

"She's my cousin." Sam lied and to her astonishment Jade didn't even see him blush or flinch at it. "She told me she was visiting her grandmother and as I was in the area, we decided to meet up."

"Her grandmother, yes, that would be, uhm …" He paused for a moment, checking his notebook. "Karen Moore?"

"Her name is Elizabeth Beauchamp." Jade cut in quickly, wondering if the Sheriff had only mixed up his information or if he was suspecting Sam of lying.

"No, her name is Elizabeth Beauchamp. I don't know any Karen Moore." Sam cast a confused look at the Sheriff and Jade was once again surprised by how good he was in lying.

"I'm sorry. My mistake. So, what do you remember?"

"I just remember getting into Jade's car. We were talking … and that's it. The next thing I know I was in hospital." Sam told him. At least this time he wasn't lying. He really didn't remember anything about the accident.

"That's all?"

"I'm afraid so. Sorry." He said in a weak voice, then coughed a few times, his hands pressed on his broken ribs. "Sorry …" He went on in a hoarse voice. "I'm not supposed to talk so much … because of the smoke poisoning and all."

"Of course, I'm almost done here anyway." Haden smiled at him sympathetically "And what are you doing here in this area, if I may ask?"

"I'm on a road trip with my brother."

"I see. And where are you from originally?" Haden asked, his voice sounding casual, but there was a tinge of suspicion in his eyes. He tried not to let the younger man see it, but Sam was too experienced in dealing with people like him to not notice it. Stifling a yawn he let his head fall back on the pillow. "We're from Palo Alto. Sorry, I'm really tired. Maybe we could talk some other time?" He asked, exhaustion clearly audible in his voice.

And this time Jade wasn't sure if it really was an act. He had been awake for quiet some time now, talking with her, doing research on the internet … it was actually surprising he had stayed awake for so long.

"Of course, I'll just come back tomorrow. Maybe you'll remember more then." Haden nodded.

"I hope so." Sam said, his voice slightly slurring, indicating that he was close to falling asleep.

Haden gave him his best wishes for a quick recovery and then left. As soon as the door had closed behind him, Sam sat up in bed and pulled his blanket off.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked startled.

"I'm getting out of bed and as I'm about to get changed out of these hospital clothes, could you leave me alone for some time?"

"Why?"

Sam only looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Jade glared at him angrily. "Why are you changing?"

"Because I'm getting out of here. I've been here way too long alrea…" He stopped talking and winced in pain when he got out of bed and tried to stand on his legs for the first time. A wave of pain spread through him as every single injury suddenly decided to start hurting at the same time. The world started spinning and he quickly held onto the nightstand to regain his balance. He could practically feel all his strength rushing out of him. He forced his body to stay upright and himself to stay awake and after a few moments he was able to stand on his own. After taking a few deep breaths, he started to walk to his closet, which hadn't looked too far away when he had still been lying in bed … but from where he was standing now, it seemed to be miles away. He swayed a few times but eventually he made it to his destination without falling on the ground.

"That's ridiculous, Sam. You can't even walk these few steps without almost fainting." Jade pointed out, worry shining through in her voice.

"Exactly, almost … I'm still standing." Sam replied, clearly out of breath. He grabbed his clothes and turned around to his bed … which seemed to be even farther away than before.

Jade shook her head … stubborn bastard, she thought annoyed. "The question is for how long … It's because of the Sheriff, isn't it."

"Maybe …" Sam said evasively. He wasn't looking at her.

"What are you hiding?"

Sam looked up at her and for a moment he was tempted to tell her the whole truth … everything starting with his mother's death over the way he was raised, the hunting, what really happened to Jessica … but this wasn't the time for it and he didn't really think she would believe him in the first place. She would think he had gone completely nuts. That's why he had never told Jess … he had been afraid to lose her by telling the truth about him.

Not that he was afraid to lose Jade of course. As soon as this was over, they would say their goodbyes and that would be the last he would see of Jade Moore. And that was a good thing. So it really didn't matter what she thought of him. But he resisted the urge to tell her anyway … just to be safe.

"Samuel Harold Turner isn't my real name, remember? I don't want the Sheriff to dig into that too much." He explained, suppressing another groan as the wound in his leg was starting to burn. Sighing he sat down back on the bed ... hoping he could convince Dean that leaving the hospital was a good idea because there was just no way he would get out of here on his own.

"Right, I almost forgot about that little detail." Jade snorted. "So what's up with that? Insurance fraud? I never thought you would sink that low."

Sam only shrugged ... biting down any comment that lay on his lips. He seldom backed down on a confrontation with Jade but right now he simply didn't feel up to it. And Dean would be back any second and he wanted to be in his own clothes by then. He wouldn't be able to convince his brother to get out of here if he was hardly able to get dressed on his own. And judging by the fact that even the smallest movement hurt like hell, getting into his clothes would be very painful and very slow. Not something he would want Dean to witness.

"You all right?" Jade asked worried. She wasn't used to Sam just shrugging off any of her insults. In the past they had always thrown one mean comment after the next at each other until Jess had stopped them. But Jess wasn't with them anymore ...

"I'm fine. Now get out." Sam snapped.

"Okay, fine." Jade gave in, knowing that she couldn't really stop him. "But for the record, I'm officially against you releasing yourself and if you get hurt even more, you only have yourself to blame and don't expect any pity from me."

"I won't. Get out!"

She cast him a last angry glance and turned around, ready to vanish through the next wall. She hesitated at the last second. "You're not just gonna leave me here, are you?" She asked, hating how small her voice suddenly sounded.

"What?" Now it was Sam's turn to look at her dumbfounded. But then he saw the fear in her eyes and he understood. "No, of course not. We won't leave until this whole thing is solved and you're back ... where you belong."

A wave of relief swept through her at his words. Even though she had just seen Sam telling lies as if he had done nothing else his whole life, she knew that he meant it. He wouldn't leave her. Jade gave him a small, grateful smile before she turned back to the wall and went right through it.

"Finally." Sam muttered, ignoring the fact that the room suddenly seemed way too empty without her. Sighing he looked at the clothes in his hands. He had no idea how he was supposed to get into them.

XXXXXXX

Absentmindedly Jade wandered through the hallways of the hospital. She was still shocked by the revelation that she had seen a real ghost … somehow she had still tried to believe that it had all been her imagination, that whatever had been in that room with her hadn't been real. Even when she had turned into a ghost herself she had refused to believe it was true.

Unlike Sam, who hadn't even been the slightest bit surprised that this woman who had died in a car accident years ago suddenly showed up right in front of her. Apparently he had even expected it to be her.

Jade shook her head. How could this have happened? Just a few weeks ago she had been happy, enjoying her college life, looking forward to marrying the best man in the world and teasing her sister with her sappy boyfriend. And now her sister was dead and she had been pushed off the street by a ghost, turned into a ghost herself and the only person who could help her was aforesaid sappy boyfriend.

Sam ... he was a whole different topic that was bothering her. From all the things that had happened to her, he was the most mysterious part. She had always known he was hiding something, hell, Jess had told her so herself. He had never spoke about his family, had never visited them in the four years he was on Stanford. He hadn't even call them for all she knew. She had thought he had broken of all contact with his family, but seeing him with his brother now ... they seemed to be even closer than she and Jess ever were. The way Dean was hovering over Sam all the time and the complete trust in Sam's eyes whenever he looked at his older brother ... that was more than a normal relationship between siblings, there was this bond between them as if they had been through hell and back together. And maybe they had?

She remembered Sam's words that he and his brother had seen a lot of strange things in their lives. And ghosts didn't seem to freak him out.

Sam Winchester was a mystery to her and now more than ever she was determined to solve it.

Deep in thought and not even looking where she was going, Jade walked through the nearest wall … and found herself standing next to her bed, looking down at her body.

She froze at the sight … seeing herself hooked up to several tubes and wires connected to all kinds of monitors, a tube in her mouth, an IV in her arm … it send chills through her. She looked as if she was already dead. How was she supposed to recover from that?

Then something Sam's brother had said came back to her mind. That there was no medical reason for why she wasn't waking up. So why wasn't she? Why couldn't she get back into her body? She stretched out her hand to touch her own arm … but instead of being able to slid right into herself again, her hand went through it like it went through everything else.

"Damn it!" She called out frustrated. A wave of despair spread through her ... she felt like screaming but even knowing that no one would hear her, she couldn't let herself go like that. Suddenly the reality of her situation came crushing down on her. She was all alone. No one could see her ... no one except Sam. Sam who would leave this hospital in a short while and then she really would be all alone. There would be no one to talk to, no one to tell her that everything was going to be all right. She knew that Sam wouldn't walk away for good, he would come back and see after her, make sure she'd find a way back into her body ... he had said so himself and even though there were so many things about him that had proven to her how good he was in lying she just knew he was telling the truth. Sam wouldn't leave her. But he was going to leave the hospital and who knew how much time would pass until he came back. A day? Could she stand to be alone for so long? A whole day with no one able to talk to, not being seen by anyone ... she felt her chest tightened as the panic raise inside of her. Without thinking it through, Jade rushed back to his room. She wouldn't let him get out of here without her.

But the second Jade was back in Sam's room, all thoughts of her being left behind vanished from her mind … right in front of her stood Sam Winchester, her dead sister's boyfriend, and he was half naked. She could do nothing but stare at him… god, he was good looking. How come she had never noticed before that he was that well-built? Of course she had always known he was muscular. She wasn't blind. And after some thanksgiving football game with him and her family that had gotten a little bit out of hand, she had felt his arms with her own hands. She remembered that at the time she had wondered how he was doing it. He wasn't one of the guys that went to the gym every day ... he didn't go there at all.

As she let her eyes wander above his body, she saw the various cuts and bruises all over it. She was fairly certain that even the smallest movement must hurt him like hell. If he was still able to move. Right now he just stood leaning against the bed, holding a shirt in his hands and breathing heavily as if the small act of getting in his trousers had exhausted him to dead end.

And then she saw the scars ... there were old ones, not connected to the accident. They were everywhere, two very big ones right there on his chest and another one on his arm. They looked years old and whatever had caused them must have been very painful.

"God, Sam …" The words had left her mouth before she could stop them and she watched horrified how Sam quickly turned around to her, wincing in pain from the fast movement.

"Jade." He glared at her accusingly. "I told you to get out."

"I … I was." Jade straightened up and tried to regain her composure. She would be damned if she let Sam know that she had enjoyed what she just saw ... well, at least until she had seen the scars. And she hadn't really enjoyed it, she had just been … surprised by the view. "I didn't … I mean, I just came back to … uhm ... "

She was saved from any explanation when the door opened and Dean stepped inside.

"Hey, I'm ba … Sam! What are you doing?" He yelled when he saw his brother already half dressed and out of bed.

"Damn it, can't a man get changed in here in peace?" Sam shot angry glares to both Dean and Jade and then finished getting on his shirt. It went awfully slow and was extremely painful. "I'm releasing myself." He pressed out through clenched teeth.

"What? Are you nuts? You had an accident, Sam. You almost died. And you can't even get dressed without getting hurt." Dean said in an agitated voice.

"Could you please tell your brother that I completely agree with him and that I repeatedly told you not to leave before you threw me out?" Jade said indignantly.

"Oh shut up." Sam muttered.

"What?" Dean's eyes widened in anger. "Sam, you …"

"I didn't mean you." Sam groaned. "Look, could you please all just wait outside until I'm done here? Thank you!"

Sam had just finished his words, when the door to his room opened again and an old woman stepped inside.

"Grandma!" Jade called out.

"What?" Sam looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?" Dean looked from the old woman to Sam and then to the empty wall at which Sam was staring … he just knew that Jade had said something just now and he hated that he could neither hear nor see her. It unnerved him that Sam was the only one who was able to do so. That wasn't normal.

"That's my grandmother. Granny, please tell me you can see me." Jade's voice was shaking with despair as she looked at her grandmother, desperately waiting for any reaction. This was her grandmother, if anyone could see, it would be her. But she didn't even cast a single glance in her direction.

"What is going on?" Dean demanded to know.

"That's her grandmother." Sam said quietly, hoping the old woman wouldn't hear him.

"The grandmother?" Dean called out.

Sam groaned … well, she definitely had heard that.

Elizabeth Beauchamp eyed the two boys suspiciously. "So, you are the long lost cousins of my granddaughter?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shit." Sam muttered.

"Uh, yeah, we are. Hi, Dean Turner, that's my brother Sam." Dean had quickly regained his composure. Living up to their cover stories always had been easy for him. "We're only distantly related to Jade, but still related. My brother here was doing some ancestry research, that's how we met Jade. I can only say, if all members of our family would be like her, we would be one great family clan." He smiled his most charming smile at Elizabeth.

"What is he doing? He can't lie to her." Jade looked at Sam with wide eyes. "She's my grandmother!"

Sam cast her a look saying as much as "You never lied to your grandmother?"

Jade threw him an angry look back, indicating that of course she had never lied to her grandmother. It never occurred to her that unlike Sam she could have easily said the words out loud. Over the last 1 1/2 years she had had so many wordless fights like this with him that she didn't even notice it anymore.

"Well, isn't that interesting." Elizabeth smirked at them. "And you conveniently happened to be in Jade's car when the accident happened?" She looked intently at Sam.

"Oh, well, uhm ..."

"That's my fault, really." Dean cut in. "Sammy and I had a little fight, you know, brother rivalry and all that. Anyway, I drove off, knowing that Jade would give him a ride ... so basically, I was responsible for that." His voice trembled slightly at his last words and he didn't look at Sam, instead he had his eyes focused on Elizabeth. He knew that Sam could usually read him like a book ... something he despised very much because he liked it much better if he could hide his emotions from anyone. But he could seldom fool Sam and he didn't want his little brother to know how guilty he felt for what had happened.

But Sam didn't need to take a look at Dean's eyes ... the tremble in his voice was enough for him to realize that something was wrong. "It wasn't your fault, Dean. No one forced me to get into her car. And you couldn't have known ... that we would have an accident." He stumbled over his words. He had meant to say that Dean couldn't have known he would have gotten into Jade's car ... but that would have obviously ruined their cover story.

Elizabeth watched the boys with narrowed eyes ... an expression that reminded Sam very much of her granddaughter. After a moment she seemed to have made up her mind about them.

"So, where do you think you're going?" She asked Sam. The way she was staring at him made him feel like a schoolboy again.

"Uh, I was released."

"Don't lie to me!" She scolded him sharply which made Dean grin gleefully at his brother. His grin faded quickly though when he suddenly found himself at the other end of Elizabeth Beauchamp's stare. "And you were just gonna let him walk out of here?"

"What? No, of course not." Dean called out, making it clear that he was very much against this idea.

"Well, I'm going. I already talked to the Sheriff and there was nothing I could say to help him. And it really doesn't matter if I lay in bed here or in our motel. So instead of occupying a bed that someone else is going to need more than I ... I'm going." Sam stated determinedly . By the alerted look in his brother's eyes he knew that he had caught on the part with the Sheriff.

"Well, if you put it that way ..." Dean muttered, letting out a defeated sigh.

"You are not going to stay in a motel!" Elizabeth said resolutely. "You're family. You're staying with me."

"Uh, that's really not necessary. We ... " Dean started but he was immediately interrupted by Elizabeth again.

"Your brother just survived a very bad accident ... that didn't even happen 48 hours ago. Show some responsibility here, Dean. You can't let him stay in a motel." She glared at him accusingly, leaving Dean speechless for the moment.

Sam grinned at the sight of his brother ... Dean wasn't at a loss of words very often.

"That's my granny." Jade said with a big, proud smile on her lips.

Sam couldn't help but chuckle at the look on her face. "Uhm, we really appreciate the offer, Mrs. Beauchamp, but ..."

"No buts! No member of my family is going to stay in a shady motel when being in this town." She looked at them with a raised eyebrow and Sam wondered if she really believed their story of being from a wide branch of her family.

"Now get your brother's things, Dean, and let's go. I want to be home before it gets dark." Without waiting for them to respond, Elizabeth turned around and marched out of the room.

Sam and Dean looked at each other hesitantly. Eventually Dean shrugged his shoulders. "At least we won't have to pay anything at her place." He said, then grabbed his brother's bag and followed the older woman outside.

Sam followed him a moment later, careful not to put too much weight on his injured leg. It took him forever to reach the door to his room and when he finally stepped outside into the corridor, he met the concerned eyes of his brother.

"Dude, you really look like shit." Dean muttered, then he took Sam's arm, put it around his shoulder and shifted most of his weight away from Sam's hurting leg. Sam cast him a grateful look and together they slowly followed Elizabeth out of the hospital, ignoring the surprised glances of the nurses. Luckily neither of them stopped them to ask any questions thanks to the threatening looks Elizabeth Beauchamp cast at everyone who came their way.

Jade watched the two Winchesters following her grandmother ... the way they were falling in stride so easily it looked as if this wasn't the first time one of them was supporting the other. Once again she asked herself what kind of life these two had lived before Sam had showed up in Stanford.

When they turned around the next corner, Jade nearly jumped and she quickly ran after them, making sure not to let them out of her sight again. Sam was her only connection to the world right now ... she was not going to leave his side.

TBC

**A.N.: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing this story. I really appreciate it :) I know there is not much happening in this chapter, but I promise I know where I'm going with this story and this part was just necessary. I hope you enjoyed it. **


	6. Chapter 6

Sam lost the battle to stay awake the moment Dean started the car. The rumbling sound of the Impala lulled him to sleep immediately and Dean watched his brother half smiling, half worrying. He liked that Sam felt safe enough to fall asleep, just by knowing that Dean was there watching over him. But it also worried him that he was dead asleep so fast. It usually took him at least a few minutes before he fell asleep, no matter how exhausted he was. His little brother was still way too weak for his liking and he wished he could give him more time to recuperate. It would have been best for him to stay in the hospital … why did the damn sheriff had to turn up and ask questions anyway? Dean had thought he had cleared everything with the police already. But no, they had to come back and ask enough uncomfortable questions to make Sam leave the only place where he could really rest.

Dean had agreed with Mrs. Beauchamp that they would make a short stop at their motel to pick up their things and then drive from there to her house. He still didn't like the idea of staying with her, but the motel really wasn't the best place for Sam to rest and this way he wouldn't be alone when Dean went to go hunting the spirit that had hurt his little brother.

After twenty minutes they had finally reached their destination. The Beauchamp house lay about a mile outside of the town. Dean wished the old woman would have mentioned that at some point. It would take them much longer to reach the hospital should anything happen to Sam. The motel had only been five minutes away. But it was too late now to change their mind.

"Hey Sammy, time to wake up." He turned to his brother and gently tapped on his shoulder.

Sam groaned quietly, pushing his hand away, but after a few moments his eyes fluttered open. "Where are we?" He asked sleepily.

"This …" Dean waved at the house in front of them, "… is Grandma's house."

Sam blinked a few times until his world became sharp enough for him to recognize his surroundings. "Wow, that's old."

"Yep."

Sighing Dean looked at the house. It really was old and not in the best shape. The building looked as if it was built about two or three centuries ago and that was probably also the last time anyone had done any repairs to it. There were three floors and each had it's own balcony. The first floor was surrounded by a big veranda that went around the house. The house stood in the middle of a huge, wild looking garden which itself was surrounded by nothing but woods. It looked exactly like a house where you would expect ghosts to live in. No wonder Jade had managed to call a spirit with her Ouija board … it had been just bad luck that it had been an evil one.

Dean got pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed that Sam had begun to slowly get out of the car. He quickly got out himself and picked up their bags. Then he went around the car to help Sam to the house.

"It's okay, I can walk the few steps." Sam said quickly. Dean had already parked the Impala as close to the house as possible and Sam didn't want to appear too weak in front of Jade … who holding onto her promise – or threat as Sam thought of it – hadn't left his side when they had left the hospital and much to his surprise and Dean's dislike – his car wasn't the right place for ghosts and spirits – she had taken a place on the backseat of the Impala.

After the first few steps Sam wished he had accepted his brother's help after all. His leg hurt like hell, his ribs were protesting against the movement, his throbbing headache had returned as soon as he stood upright and when he looked at the four steps in front of him leading to the entrance of the house, he had no idea how to get up there.

Dean, sensing his brother's misery, quickly brought their bags into the house and then returned, took Sam's arm and slung it around his shoulder. Without giving his brother a chance to object, he slowly started walking up the steps and Sam followed his lead gratefully. After all, standing in front of the house for the next few hours wasn't very dignifying as well.

"Dean, help your brother upstairs, your rooms are on the second floor, first and second door on the left." Elizabeth called over her shoulder, already half on her way down the corridor.

"Oh, we only need one room." Dean said quickly.

Elizabeth stopped and turned back to them. "Well, that might be. But there is only one bed in each room, so be a big boy and try to sleep on your own for a few nights, will you, dear?"

Dean gasped and Sam tried hard not to laugh out loud. "Yep, you truly are one family." He whispered with a sideways glance to Jade who was grinning as well.

Dean shot an annoyed glance at his brother and began pulling him up the stairs. "Come on." He mumbled. He hated being made fun of. So they were used to sleep in the same room, what was the big deal? In their lives, that was more a necessity than something he wished for. A room for himself actually sounded nice. Granted, he wasn't used to it as he either shared a room with his Dad or his brother most of his life, but he had spend a few nights alone over the past four years … no problem at all.

When they stood in front of their rooms, Sam had begun to look as uncomfortable as Dean. "So, uhm, which room you want?"

"Huh? Oh, uhm … the first one." Dean picked his room and went with Sam to the other one. Another gasp escaped his mouth when they opened the door. "You gotta be kidding me."

They were staring at what was very obviously once a teenage girl's room. The white walls were covered with pink clouds, there were fluffy cushions on the bed and the small couch, a huge shelf full of dolls and stuffed animals and girly pictures hanging on the wall. To Sam and Dean it looked like a living nightmare.

"Dude, this other room better not look like this." Dean choked.

"This is Jess' room." Jade whispered next to Sam and he stilled immediately at her words.

Dean noticed the tension in his brother. "What's wrong? You having nightmares of this already?"

"No …" Sam let his eyes wander around the room, taking in every detail of it. Jess' room … "It's okay, it'll only be for a few nights."

"Yeah, well … I guess we have slept in worse rooms over the years. Though none of them had that much pink in them." Dean stated dryly. He cast a careful glance at his brother. "You'll be okay for a few minutes? I'll go get our bags."

"Sure." Sam pulled himself together and smiled at his brother reassuringly. "And thanks."

"No problem." Dean waved it off and stepped out of the room.

Sam cast another look around the room and took another step inside. His hurting leg immediately reminded him that walking wasn't what he was best in at the moment and sighing he took a seat on the bed … Jess' bed. He let his hand trace over the blanket. He had thought he had lost everything that could remind him of Jess, he didn't even have a picture of her anymore, and here he was … in her room, on her bed, looking at the remnants of her childhood.

"Granny has always refused to change anything in our rooms. It still looks exactly like the last time we were here." Jade said quietly. She saw the pain in Sam's eyes … the same pain she felt inside of her. This was her little sister's room … even if they hadn't spend much time here the last few years, she could still see Jess in here. "She used to sit on that couch and write in her diary. And we told each other ghost stories on that bed … Jess was spooked so easily." Jade laughed quietly.

Sam chuckled, remembering all the times Jess had made him watch a horror movie with her and the way she had snuggled close to him, hiding under the blanket, because she was too afraid to watch what was happening on the movie. "Yeah, she was."

Then he remembered how she died … his very own horror movie replaying in front of his eyes over and over again every time he closed his eyes. He felt so close to her here and yet he knew at the same time that he would never see her again. He would never hold her, talk to her, laugh with her, make her feel safe … because she hadn't been safe with him after all. Being with him had gotten her killed.

"Sam …" Jade started but at that moment Dean came back into the room.

"Hey, you all right?" He asked worried, seeing his little brother sitting on the bed, trembling visibly.

"This is Jess' room." Sam pressed out, knowing … hoping … that would be enough of an explanation.

"Oh …" Dean took another look around the room and then glanced back at his brother. "You know … you can have the other room if you want. It … looks a bit less pink."

Sam sniffed, took a deep breath and finally managed to smile at his brother. "No, it's okay. I'll be fine, really. I stay in this one."

"Okay." Dean looked thoughtfully at his brother. Then, deciding that he was really okay, at least for now, he put his bag on the couch. "Grandma said she's making us dinner. Why don't you rest 'til then and I take a look around, see if there's any sign of ghosts in this house."

"Tell your brother to stop calling her Grandma. That's highly disrespectful!" Jade called out indignantly and cast an angry look at Dean … who was completely unaware of it.

"Maybe we shouldn't call her Grandma." Sam pointed out.

"Well, we gotta call her something … and don't worry, I won't say it when she's in the room. Get some sleep, I'll let you know when dinner's ready." Dean gave him a cocky smile, pulled out his EMF-meter and left.

Sam couldn't help but grin as well, though he tried not to let Jade see it. He closed his eyes and let himself fall back on the bed. He pulled his legs up and sighed as his muscles relaxed and he tried to make himself comfortable ... which wasn't easy as he was still hurting all over. His last thought before succumbing to sleep was that hopefully Dean had brought the medkit from the car. He didn't think he would be able to get up from the bed again before taking at least a dozen painkillers.

XXXXXXX

Dean had searched the whole house but couldn't find any sign of the spirit. There were small traces of EMF indicating that a spirit had been here before, but not enough to prove that this house was haunted.

Sighing he looked out of the window from the third floor. This house looked so spooky, he had been sure there had to be at least a few ghosts living in it … then Jade wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore, he thought grinning.

His grin froze when his eyes caught something in the garden outside … there was a dark line on the snow covered grass … a line that apparently hadn't been touched by the snow. From where Dean was standing it looked as if it was going around the house in a circle. "What the hell …" He muttered and then quickly went down the stairs to take a closer look.

"Where are you going?" Elizabeth stopped him when he had just opened the back door that lead outside to the garden.

"I thought I'd get some fresh air before dinner." Dean replied quickly.

"Well, don't bother. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Elizabeth told him sternly.

"Okay, I'll be back in time." He gave her his most charming smile and turned to open the door.

"You better get your brother down. He must be hungry … and getting down the stairs is going to take him at least a few minutes."

Dean opened his mouth to object, but then decided against it. There really was no need to check out that circle right away and it really would take Sam several minutes to get down here.

While he walked up the stairs he thought about Elizabeth Beauchamp. Something was strange about that woman. He couldn't point his finger on it, but the way she had tried to keep him in the house … he didn't think that had anything to do with dinner being ready in a few minutes. He wondered what she would do when he'd tried to go out later the night.

"_I want to be home before it gets dark."_

Her words from earlier the day rang in his ears. Was she hiding something? Did she knew about the spirit? Maybe Grandma wasn't as innocent as they had originally thought.

Still deep in thought, Dean stepped into Sam's room. A groan escaped him when his eyes took in all the pink around him. Really, couldn't this woman have had at least one grandson? Then at least he would get to sleep in a normal room.

His eyes fell on Sam who was sleeping on the bed. Dean wished he could say his brother looked peaceful in his sleep, but he was far from it. The pain was evident on his face and Dean doubted that nightmares were responsible for that this time. He went to the bag lying on the couch and got out the medkit and some painkillers. Then he turned to Sam and shook him gently on the shoulder.

"Sammy, time to wake up. Dinner is almost ready."

Sam's eyes fluttered open and a small groan escaped his lips. "Not hungry." He muttered and closed his eyes again. He tried to turn away from Dean, but accidentally put too much weight on his broken ribs. "Oh shit." He hissed, rolling back on his back in an instant, his eyes clenched shut.

"Easy, Sam." Dean said softly. "Here, I got something for the pain."

Sam took in a deep breath and opened his eyes again. Gratefully he looked at the pills in Dean's hand. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver." He said quietly and pulled himself into a sitting position, wincing in pain at the movement. "Oh man, remind me not to do that again."

"What … sitting up?" Dean teased him.

"No, getting into a car with Jade." He sighed. "I should have remembered she's the worst driver in the world."

"Hey!" Jade called out from over the sofa where she had sat down after Sam had fallen asleep. So far she had stayed quiet, watching the two brothers talking. She liked the way Dean was taking care of his younger brother … he was acting like a jerk most of the time in her opinion, but when it came to his brother, it was like he was a complete different person. And she was somehow glad that Sam was with someone who took care of him like this.

But enough was enough. She might not be the best driver in the world, but the worst … this stupid accident hadn't even been her fault.

She glared angrily at Sam, but the grin he sent her way weakened her anger immediately. Damn, why did he have to have a smile like that. No wonder Jessica fell for him instantly the way she had … who could resist that smile? She shook her head, unable to stop herself from grinning back at him.

"You want the pills or is staring at empty space or invisible ghosts the only cure you need?" Dean teased when he noticed his brother's attention had turned away from him … and his own pain apparently, at least according to the smile on his face.

Sam only scoffed and took the offered pills, swallowing them immediately. Waiting for the medication to sink in, Dean began telling Sam what he had discovered.

"What do you think that means?" Sam asked once Dean was finished.

"I don't know. So far it can mean a lot of things. Why don't you ask your invisible friend?" Dean asked, pointing over his shoulder at the couch where Sam had looked at a few minutes ago. He figured that was where Jade was ... or at least had been then. "Maybe Grandma has some supernatural connections she knows about?"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Jade had listened to what Dean was saying and she couldn't believe he was talking like that about her grandmother. How dare he!

Sam nearly jumped up from the bed when Jade started screaming ... she was now standing directly next to Dean, yelling into his ear ... which he was completely unaware of.

"She's angry, isn't she?" Dean grinned when he saw his startled brother.

"Something like that, yeah." Sam sighed. Then he turned to Jade and tried to reason with her. "Listen ..."

"No, you listen." She immediately interrupted him. "I want him to stop. Tell your brother to not call her "Grandma" again, she is NOT his grandmother and she deserves to be treated with respect. And he won't accuse her to be some kind of crazy witch because she is not. She is just a nice old woman who invited you into her house because she is too kind to ever think that you might lie to her about this whole cousin story and ..."

"Jade!" Sam cut in sharply. He cast a short glance at this brother who looked at him curious, wondering what she was saying and once again annoyed that he could only understand half of this conversation.

Jade trembled visibly with anger, but she stayed quiet, waiting for Sam to continue.

"Your Grandmother has a Quija board in her house ... that alone shows that she had to have at least some contact with the supernatural. The circle outside indicates that she has some further knowledge about magic or hoodoo or something similar. It didn't just appear out of nowhere. But it doesn't necessarily mean your grandmother is evil. We absolutely don't think that. And we do respect your grandmother and we are very grateful that she lets us stay here. And about the cousin story ... I don't think she ever believed that. Not even for a second." Sam finished.

Dean looked smiling at his brother. Of course he couldn't see Jade's reaction, but he knew his brother and he could convince almost everyone. And after that speech just now ... there was now way he hadn't convinced Jade to trust them. When he saw Sam relax visibly, Dean knew it had worked.

"So, have you ever noticed anything strange about your grandmother?" Sam asked quietly after a moment, relieved that Jade didn't look as angry as before anymore.

Jade hesitated a moment before she replied, wondering whether she should trust the brothers. "No, never. She is the kindest person I've ever known."

"Okay. Have you ever seen her using the Quija board?"

"No." Jade shook her head, looking slightly guilty. "Actually, she got pretty upset when she saw me with it."

"What did she say?"

"That it's dangerous and that I had no idea what I might be calling. It ... it was weird. I've never seen her like that." Helplessly Jade looked at Sam, dozens of different questions showing in her eyes.

"Anything else?"

"No. She just grabbed the board and walked out. We didn't talk about it again. I left the next day ... or at least I planned to."

"Yeah." Sam sighed. Unfortunately he only knew too well what had happened next.

"What is she saying?" Dean inquired, not willing to wait any longer.

"Well, Grandma does know something." Sam told him.

Jade only rolled her eyes at his choice of words.

"It's time we find out how much. You're up for the walk downstairs? Dinner should be ready by now." Dean replied.

"Yeah, lets go." By now the painkillers showed effect and Sam was fairly certain that he would make it into the kitchen without feeling too much pain.

Dean helped his brother up and together they walked downstairs to join Elizabeth.

XXXXXXX

"Man, this is like the best meat loaf I've ever had." Dean said excited, his mouth still half full and a satisfied smile on his lips.

"Oh, it's nothing special, really. I'm sure your grandmother can make as good a meat loaf as well." Elizabeth waved the comment off with a warm smile.

"Yeah, probably." Sam said quietly, exchanging a short look with his brother.

Elizabeth glanced at them thoughtfully for a moment ... and so did Jade. She had followed the brothers into the kitchen, not willing to be left alone. She had to agree that her grandmother was a great cook, but Dean was enjoying the dinner as if he hadn't eat a home cooked meal his whole life. It reminded her of Sam when he had been invited to her family for the first time.

"What is it with you two?" She mumbled, almost inaudible. But Sam had heard her and looked up for a moment. He shrugged his shoulders shortly and looked at her almost apologetically, as if that would explain everything. And even though he wasn't really giving her an explanation, she got the feeling that she had just learned another fact about the mystery that Sam Winchester was to her.

"So, Sam ..." Elizabeth started talking again and there was something in her voice that made sure she had everyone's attention immediately. She wasn't the kind of woman that would be ignored. "Is Turner your real name or is it Winchester?"

Both Sam and Dean practically choked on their food. "What?" They asked at the same time.

Elizabeth smiled at them knowingly. "My granddaughter, Jessica, she was a very special girl. And loyal. She wrote me a letter at least once a month. She would tell me everything. About what happened at school and college, the latest argument she had with her parents or her sister ... and the boy she fell in love with. She included pictures as well."

"Oh ..."

"I can understand that you told the story about being Jade's cousins in the hospital. It was the only way to find out how she was doing as you are not related to her. But I'm a little bit confused about the names." She cast them an inquiring look.

"Uhm ..." Sam tried to come up with an explanation, but for the life of him he couldn't think of one. It was as if his mind had just gone blank.

"Actually, it's Winchester-Turner." Dean cut in quickly, chuckling. "We usually just use one of the names, since, you know, Winchester-Turner sounds real stupid. I wish our parents had made up their mind and picked one name, but no ... they had to punish us with both names. So, I usually go by the name Turner, it's shorter and doesn't sound so much like a shotgun, you know." He let out a small laugh and gave Elizabeth his most charming smile. "But Sammy here, for some reason he likes the name Winchester better. We always manage to confused people with that."

"Is that so." Elizabeth said quietly with a raised eyebrow. Then a warm smile appeared on her lips. "Well, all I know is that you made Jessica very, very happy. And that's all I really need to know."

Sam swallowed down the lump in his throat and managed to smile back at her. "She made me happy too."

Elizabeth looked at him understanding and put her hand on his, giving him a short squeeze. "She was a good girl."

They continued to eat dinner in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Elizabeth was lost in memory of the times her two granddaughters had spend with her here in this house, Sam remembered the short time he was allowed to spend with Jessica and tried to suppress the pain and guilt that still threatened to overwhelm him every time he thought of Jess and the way she had died. And Dean tried to imagine what kind of woman Jessica had been. Obviously she had been loved by everyone ... including and most important for him by his brother. He wished he had known her better, longer than just these 5 minutes he had talked with her that night when he had taken her boyfriend away from her. Not for the first time he wished he had been a bigger part in Sam's life these past four years. He wondered if things had gone differently then, if they could have changed anything.

When they cleaned up the dishes, Dean was the first who brought the silence. "So, Mrs. Beauchamp, I talked to this guy the other day. He told me about an accident that happened on the same road Sam and Jade had the crash. You ever heard about that one?"

Elizabeth froze in front of their eyes and for a second Dean thought she would let the dishes drop right where she was standing. The warm look in her eyes disappeared and she glared at them coldly. "What do you know about that accident?"

"Only what this guy told me. I guess Sam and Jade were pretty lucky, considering." Dean replied, looking at her surprised. He hadn't expected that kind of reaction.

"Why are you here? Why did you come to his town?" She asked, her voice as cold as the look in her eyes.

"Just passing through." Dean said quietly. "So, that accident ..."

"Why do you ask?" Elizabeth glared at him angrily and both brothers were sure that if looks could kill, Dean would be dead now.

"Just wondering ... it's supposed to be a safe road and yet there are two accidents like that ... both cars pushed off the street. Makes you wonder ..."

"Jade wasn't pushed off the street." Elizabeth called out. "She lost control."

"I did not!" Jade said indignantly.

"Ma'am, I was in that car and ... even though I don't remember much ... I know that Jade didn't just lose control. Something pushed us off that street."

"Oh god." Elizabeth suddenly paled and Dean quickly snapped the dishes out of her hand before she really let them fall down. She didn't even notice what he was doing and with a deep sigh she sagged down on the nearest chair.

Sam and Dean watched her worriedly ... and suspiciously. She sure knew something.

"Mrs. Beauchamp? You all right?" Sam asked after a moment.

Elizabeth only shook her head. "I told her not to come." She muttered. "I told them all to stay away. I wanted to protect them. Why didn't she listen to me?"

"Granny, what ... what are you talking about?" Jade asked with wide eyes. She was shocked to find out that obviously her grandmother wasn't the woman she had always thought she was.

"Mrs. Beauchamp, what are you trying to protect them from?" Sam asked quietly.

When Elizabeth looked up at him, there was cold fear and despair visible in her eyes.

TBC

**A.N.: Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Your feedback is very much appreciated and means very much to me. Thank you :)**


	7. Chapter 7

„It started eight years ago." Elizabeth began her tale in a quiet voice. "It was a moonless night and Noah, my husband, was out with his friends, gambling and drinking. They met every Saturday for their weekly poker night. Noah had always been a very careful driver, even when he had been drinking." Her hands shivered slightly and she looked pleadingly at Sam and Dean, willing them to believe her. "My husband wasn't a bad man. But that night … I don't know how or why … maybe he had been drinking more than usual or it was just him getting too old … He lost control over his car. Just for a second but … that was all it took." She said, regret and pain audible in her voice. "He drove his car on the other lane and by that … he pushed this young woman's car off the street. She crashed down the slope and … He stopped. I swear he did. He went down to check on her and he thought she was already dead. He didn't know … he didn't know …" Her voice trailed off and Sam and Dean knew exactly what she was unable to say. Her husband hadn't known the young woman had still been alive.

"He panicked … and left the scene. When he came home, I immediately knew something was wrong. He wouldn't talk about it at first and he was clearly in shock. I saw the damage on the car, but I … I never thought that … or maybe I just didn't want to believe that he was capable of just leaving this poor woman, all alone and …" Again her voice broke and she looked helplessly at the brothers. "The next day, I heard what happened … I wanted to get Noah to report himself to the police. If he explained to them what had happened … but when I went out to talk to him, he was already dead. He was lying on the ground, in the garden behind our house. His face … oh god …" A pained sob escaped her lips and she rubbed her hands over her face when the memory of what she had seen that day threatened to overwhelm her.

"We can take a break, Mrs. Beauchamp. Maybe we should continue this conversation tomorrow." Sam said quietly, worried the older woman would break down in front of them.

Dean sat helplessly next to her. He wasn't quite sure what to do so he settled with gently patting her arm a few times to calm her, feeling utterly uncomfortable sitting so close to her at the moment. He was grateful Sam was doing the talking because really, he wasn't good at this whole giving comfort thing.

"No, I don't need a break. I have kept silent about this for too long already." Elizabeth said determinedly. She took a deep breath and straightened her back. She managed to regain her composure and suddenly all signs of despair were gone and she looked like the strong, unshakable and slightly intimidating woman again that Sam and Dean had met in the hospital. "His face was a grimace of horror and fear. Whatever killed him, it wasn't a stroke. He was scared to death."

"Scared of what?" Sam asked quietly and again Dean envied him for his calm, soothing voice.

"Lilly Pendegrast's ghost."

"She's the woman from the accident?" Dean asked, feeling better now that they were on familiar ground again.

"Yes." Elizabeth replied and she looked only slightly surprised that neither Sam nor Dean weren't questioning her sanity for talking about ghosts. "I saw her standing only a few feet away, watching us. 'I will get to you all', she said, and there wasn't a trace of human left in her voice. I don't know why she didn't kill me then and there … but I made sure she wouldn't get a chance to later."

"The circle around your house." Dean stated.

"Yes. And this." She pointed at a small amulet around her neck. "It's protection against evil spirits. But I knew that wouldn't be enough to protect every member of my family, so I made sure that they didn't come here again. And they never did … until Jade arrived a few days ago." Her shoulders sagged down when she remembered her injured granddaughter lying in hospital. "I told her to go away but it was already late and I didn't want her to leave at night. She would have been safe in the house – the circle is keeping all evil out."

"Except when you call it." Sam added.

"Yes. It's just my luck that my granddaughter comes here to call the very ghost that is trying to kill my family." Elizabeth sighed.

Sam cast a short glance at Jade's direction, half expecting her to call out that she couldn't very well have known this would happen. The Jade he knew wouldn't sit quietly when being accused like this, but right now she was simply too shocked by her grandmother's tale to say anything. She just stared at the other woman with wide eyes. Her face had lost all color – if that was even possible for a ghost.

"Well, she didn't mean to. She was just trying to reach her sister." Sam said, feeling somehow obliged to defend Jade when she wouldn't. He was getting surprised looks by all three in return.

"She told you about it?" Elizabeth asked astounded and Dean rolled his eyes at his brother because either they would have to tell another lie now – and so far Elizabeth Beauchamp had somehow always caught them lying – or they would have to tell her the truth … and even though she seemed to know a bit about the supernatural, he wasn't sure she was quite ready for finding out that her granddaughter was currently running around as a ghost.

And Jade couldn't believe that Sam had just stood up for her. That's not something they did ... usually they used every chance they could get to let the other one look bad … never in a mean way, but it had always been a lot of fun. And they would have never thought of defending the other. But maybe this was just another thing Jess' death had changed.

"Well, uhm …" Sam started to respond to Elizabeth's question, not really sure what to say.

Elizabeth looked at him with a raised eyebrow and sharp eyes that seemed to see right through to his soul. Even if Sam had wanted to, there was no way he could have lied to her when she was looking at him like that.

So he just blurred the words out without really thinking about them. "Jade's spirit kinda left her body and she is a ghost now. But I'm sure that's only temporarily and she will wake up soon."

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment … as did Jade and Dean.

"Jesus, Sam, could you have told her in any less direct way?" Both Jade and Dean more or less hissed at the same time.

Sam squirmed uncomfortably on his chair, ignoring Jade and his brother and looking apologizing at Elizabeth.

"A ghost?" She finally pressed out and then her eyes widened and wandered around the room. "Is she here?"

"She is standing right there." Sam pointed at a seemingly empty spot next to him where Jade stood, looking hopefully at her grandmother.

But Elizabeth couldn't see her and she kept looking right through her. "Is she all right?" She asked quietly after a moment.

"A bit shaken, but other than that she's fine." Sam assured her with a reassuring smile.

Elizabeth nodded slowly and than fixed her eyes at the empty wall next to Sam. "I'm sorry, honey. I didn't want any of this to happen. I … I thought it would be enough to keep you all away from me."

"She understands." Sam said quietly. Even though Jade hadn't said anything, he could see it in her eyes. There was not a trace of anger or disappointment left.

"Well, okay, now that that's cleared, we can get back to business, right?" Dean cut in, having had enough emotional outbreak for the night. "We know the ghost's name and tomorrow I'll go find her grave. I go back at night, do a little salt and burn … case closed."

"Salt and burn?" Elizabeth and Jade asked simultaneously.

Dean sighed slightly exasperated and Sam started to explain the process of "killing" ghosts.

"You're hunters, aren't you? I thought you might be." Elizabeth said quietly when Sam had finished.

"What?" Jade asked confused.

Sam and Dean looked at each other in surprise and discomfort.

"And what would you know about hunters?" Dean asked suspicious.

"My uncle was one. He was the one who told me about protection against evil spirits. He never taught me anything about hunting though … at the time the idea of a woman hunting wasn't very popular. I imagine that has changed by now." Elizabeth replied smiling.

"Why are you talking about hunting now?" Jade asked, feeling utterly confused. They had lost her somewhere between burning human remains and hunting … there didn't seem to be a connection.

Sam cleared his throat and chose to ignore her. Explaining to her what they were hunting wasn't really something he looked forward to … he preferred that she continued to think they were talking about hunting normal deer.

"Why did you never call him after this ghost showed up?" He asked instead.

"Oh, he died a long time ago. Bear attack ... at least that's what the official report said. I always imagined it might have been a werewolf or some other evil beast."

"I'm sorry." Sam cleared his throat and did his best to not look at Jade ... who stared at her grandmother with wide, shocked eyes.

"Well, I think we should call it a night." Dean finally said, having noticed how Sam seemed to pale more and more with each passing minute. This conversation was wearing him out and it was time for him to get back to bed and rest. After all there was a reason he hadn't been officially released from the hospital yet. "You ready, Sammy?"

"Yeah." Sam sighed. The prospect of getting up the stairs again wasn't something he looked forward to. But his ribs and injured leg had started hurting real bad a while ago and lying down did sound like a good idea. He only wished his bedroom would be on the first floor. "Let's go."

They said good night to Elizabeth and Dean helped Sam back up the stairs. After a long and painful ascent they finally stood in the corridor leading to their two bedrooms.

"So ..."

"Yeah ..."

"You're gonna be alright?" Dean asked, looking uncomfortably at the two bedroom doors.

"Yeah, I'm good." Sam nodded.

They stayed standing awkwardly in the corridor, both trying to think of something to say.

"Okay, uhm, I'm gonna ..." Sam started and gestured at his bedroom door.

"Yeah, me too." Dean nodded.

When Jade passed by them a few moments later, they were still standing in the corridor, neither of them willing to be the first to part for the night.

"Oh, grow up." She snapped and vanished through the next wall.

Glaring after her, Sam cleared his throat and turned back to Dean. "Well, have a good night then."

"Yeah, you too."

Dean watched Sam disappearing to his room and a queasy feeling spread through his gut. He wasn't used to not sleeping with Sam in the same room. Of course he had done exactly that for the past four years, but Sam had been miles away then, in Stanford, and somehow that had been completely different. Now his little brother was sleeping in the next room, hurting all over, recovering from an accident that could have easily killed him, haunted by nightmares practically every night ... and Dean wasn't there to look after him. It was killing him, but he couldn't very well admit that he needed to sleep in the same room as his little brother. He was 26 years old after all.

Taking a deep breath, Dean turned to his own room and determinedly closed the door behind him. It would just be for a couple of nights. He would kill this freaking ghost tomorrow night and after that he would take Sammy and get back on the road.

Two nights weren't that bad. He could handle that.

He sat down on the bed and tested it's comfort. It was softer than the motel beds he was used to. He let himself fall on his back and closed his eyes. Definitely a lot more comfortable than motel beds, he thought smiling. But then his thoughts went back to Sam and the fact that if they were in a motel right now, Sam would be lying in the bed right next to his. Where he could watch out for him, make sure he was all right. Sighing Dean sat up again and began nervously tapping his fingers on the blanket. He hated this.

He suddenly remembered that he hadn't given Sam any more painkillers after dinner. Relieved to have found a reason to look after his little brother one more time before going to bed, he jumped up and moments later found himself in the other room.

"Dean." Startled Sam looked up from where he was sitting on the bed ... the bottle with painkillers in his hand. Of course he had managed to get the pills by himself. Dean suddenly felt pretty stupid and stood awkwardly in front of his brother.

"Hey, uhm ... oh, good, you found the pills, I wasn't sure if you ... uhm ..."

"Dean, I'm fine. Relax, okay? Just go back to bed." Sam said smiling. Inwardly, he was glad Dean was back ... he just wished he could stay. He had gotten used again to sleeping with his big brother in the same room pretty quickly. In fact, that had been one of the things he had missed most those first few weeks in Stanford. Of course he'd never admit that. He was too old to be needing his big brother to watch out for him when he was sleeping.

"Yeah, all right. Uhm, you call if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure."

"Okay, good night then."

With that Dean stepped out of the room again and Sam was left alone ... well, as alone as you can be with a ghost.

"You two are unbelievable." Jade shook her head as soon as the door had closed behind Dean.

"What?" Sam asked, feeling slightly embarrassed. "He was just making sure I knew where the pills were."

"Sure." She snorted. Inwardly she had to admit that she was touched by the close brotherly behavior Sam and Dean were showing. The way the two were looking out for each other - Sam as much as Dean, even though he didn't have much chance to show it yet, but she just knew he would take as much care of his big brother - she wished she had someone like that. She and Jess had always been close ... but it seemed so much more intense with Sam and Dean – as if they needed the other as much as the air to breath.

"Could you maybe turn around? I'm trying to get changed here." Sam said, gesturing at the pile of clothes lying next to him on the bed. "And this time don't turn back until I tell you to."

Jade bit her tongue on a sharp reply and turned around ... after all she _had_ run into him the last time he had changed into fresh clothes. And the memory still left her quite breathless ... she really didn't want a repeat of that – it had been way too embarrassing on her part.

Sam changed more or less quickly, wincing in pain every now and then ... it took him several minutes to get into his new clothes, but he managed it a lot faster than earlier the day in hospital so he took that as a sign of improvement. When he was done, he let himself fall back on the bed, suppressing a groan when he put too much pressure on his broken ribs. He shifted into a more comfortable position and let out a relieved sigh.

"You can turn around now." He mumbled, his eyes already closed. The painkillers were starting to show effect and he was starting to feel drowsy.

Jade watched him for several minutes until she was sure he was asleep. Then she walked quietly to his bed and sat down next to him on the floor. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"What for?"

Startled Jade looked up. "I thought you were already asleep."

"I don't sleep easily these days." Sam mumbled, his eyes still closed. "So what are you sorry for?"

"The accident. I nearly got you killed." Jade said regretfully.

Sam sighed. "I thought we had already agreed that that hadn't been your fault?"

"Yeah, but ..." She shrugged. "If I hadn't given you a ride, you wouldn't have been in the car. And if I hadn't called that ghost, then maybe ..."

"Stop." Sam opened his eyes and pulled himself into a sitting position, ignoring his protesting ribs. "I've played this 'if-game' too many times to count. It gets you nowhere. If you hadn't given me the ride, I might have frozen to death while walking back to the motel."

"It wasn't really that cold." Jade pointed out.

"Cold enough, if you ask me. And whether you had called the ghost or not ... it probably would have attacked you on that road anyway. It's after your family and it must have known you were here even before you used the Quija board. That's probably why it appeared in the first place. You showed it a way in and it couldn't resist. If your grandmother hadn't come in, it probably would have killed you in that very room. But you using the Quija board had nothing to do with the accident."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you." She whispered, not willing to be let off the hook so easily.

"Jade ..."

"No, Sam, when I saw you in the burning car and I couldn't get to you, it felt as if my soul got ripped out. I thought I would have to watch you die. I tried so hard to help you, but I couldn't even move. And then everything went black and when I woke up and finally could move again ... I still couldn't help you. You asked me to help you and I could do nothing but stand there and watch you die. And you looked at me like I had just betrayed you." She sniffed and quickly wiped a tear away that had escaped her eye. "Damn, I thought ghosts couldn't cry." She muttered.

Sam let out a small laugh. "As if being a ghost would stop you from doing anything." Then he looked at her earnestly. "Jade, I didn't die. And you didn't betray me. You might not have been able to pull me out of that car, but ... I wasn't alone. You were right there at my side and that helped more than you can imagine."

"You don't even remember the accident, Sam, so how would you know it helped?"

"Because I hate being alone. That's one of the things I'm most afraid of." Sam admitted, surprised at himself that he had revealed one of his biggest fears. "And with you there ... I wasn't."

They stayed silent for a while and Sam lay back down, rolling onto his side to take some pressure off his hurting ribs and still facing Jade. He thought the conversation with her was over and prepared himself to fall asleep ... something he grew more and more anxious about with every passing day. There hadn't been one night since Jessica's death that he didn't wake up from having a nightmare ... mostly about her, but also about all the other evil things he and his brother had encountered since that day.

Sleeping wasn't really something he looked forward to and when Jade started talking again, he was slightly relieved ... even though the topic also was something he'd rather avoided.

"Were you ever planning on coming back to her?" Jade asked quietly while looking intently at Sam. She didn't need to verify who she was talking about.

"I did come back." Sam whispered and asked himself if this wasn't even worth than having nightmares.

"When?" She sounded astounded. During the last few weeks she had made up her mind about Sam Winchester. He had left her sister in the middle of the night, never to return again. She had hated him for that. Or so she had tried at least. But then she had met him again a few days ago and he had looked at her with those big, sad eyes of his and there had been nothing about him she could hate anymore. Whatever he had done, whatever had been his reason for leaving, she was willing to believe that he might have had a good reason. And now he was telling her he actually had come back?

"The night of the fire." Sam cleared his throat and swallowed down the lump in his throat. He rolled over on his back, facing the ceiling. He had never talked about this night, not even with Dean. It had just been ... too painful. And he wasn't sure he could talk about it now.

"What? When? Your name wasn't in the police report ..."

"I never talked to the police." Sam kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling, not able to look into Jade's eyes.

"When ... when exactly did you come back? Did you see anything?" She shook her head to get a clear mind. Sam had returned to Jess ...

"Just before … I came back just before the fire ... but I was already too late." Sam choked. He could feel the tears brimming in his eyes. God, it hurt so much talking about it, remembering it all.

"Then you saw what happened?" Jade had sat up by now and kneeled next to the bed, her eyes fixed on Sam. She didn't want to miss a single word he was saying ... and she needed to see his eyes because she knew Sam long enough to know that he was always saying so much more with his eyes.

Sam shivered and looked at her pleadingly. "You don't really want to know this, Jade."

"Sam." Jade shook her head vehemently and wished she could grasp his hand to make him understand how important this was for her. But she couldn't and all she had was her words. "If this was Dean we were talking about, wouldn't you want to know everything? Jess was my sister." She added and looked as pleading at Sam as he had a moment before.

Sam closed his eyes and swallowed. How could he tell her the truth? Despite the fact that it involved a demon, something he didn't think Jade had ever considered believing in, let alone think about … the circumstances involving Jess' death were so cruel and horrifying, it would crush her. It killed him just thinking about it and he didn't want her to remember her sister like this.

But how could he not tell her? She was right … if they'd be talking about Dean, he would want to know everything, no matter how cruel the details.

"Jess died the same way as my mother." He finally pressed out and hoped she would leave it with that.

But of course she didn't … she had no idea how his mother had died.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jade looked at him impatiently, willing him to finally tell her what she had longed to know for so long.

Sam sighed and fixes his eyes at the ceiling again … replaying in his mind the horrible night when he had lost the woman he loved and the events that happened 22 years ago that he had been told so many times.

"How did your mother die, Sam?" Jade urged when he didn't say anything.

Sam took a deep breath, his eyes still fixed on the ceiling, and began talking in a whispered, shaking voice. "I was just six months old. My Dad was downstairs, watching TV. He had fallen asleep … then he heard my Mom screaming. He ran into my nursery, but couldn't see her. I think … I think he believed he had only imagined the screams then or that they had only been coming from the TV maybe. Then … he saw blood trickling on me, on the blanket, his hand and … He looked up, at the ceiling and … ." Sam was breathing heavily when the images in his mind changed from his father's tale to his own memories. "… She was … she was pinned at the ceiling and her stomach was slashed. There was so much blood and her eyes …. she looked right at me. She was so scared and terrified. I wanted to help her but before I could do anything the flames erupted around her and she screamed … she called for me and screamed and there was nothing I could do." He started trembling and held onto the blanket tightly, his hands pulled into fists. "Then Dean was there and pulled me out of the room. The next thing I remember is that I'm leaning against a car … his car I think and I can see the flames coming out of our apartment. And I couldn't hear her anymore."

He stopped talking and kept staring at the ceiling. He didn't want to look at Jade. He was afraid of what he might see in her eyes. Horror … because she believed him … or the realization that he had gone completely crazy? He wasn't sure what he would prefer. Maybe it would be easier if she didn't believe him. Then he could pretend that it had all just been a horrible nightmare for as long as he was with her. That it wasn't true and that he could drive back with her to Stanford and get on with his life. No more hunting … no demon … no more nightmares. If he could believe all that for just a few moments … maybe he could get the image of Jess dying out of his mind for a short while.

He finally forced himself to look at Jade and he saw a mix of emotions on her face … she obviously hadn't decided yet if she should believe him or not. And with a heavy heart Sam realized that no matter what she believed it wouldn't change anything for him.

He would never forget.

Jade stared at Sam, not knowing what to make out of his words. …_pinned at the ceiling_? What the hell was that supposed to mean? How could she have ended up being pinned at the ceiling? Sam's change from talking about his mother to what he had witnessed himself the night of Jess's death hadn't gone unnoticed by her. Yet she refused to believe that her sister had died that way. Dying in a fire was cruel enough … but that?

_Her stomach was slashed._

A shiver ran down her spine as his words went through her mind.

"So it wasn't an accident?" She choked out, looking at Sam with wide, pleading eyes.

"No, it wasn't." He whispered and then a tear escaped his eye. "I'm sorry."

Startled Jade watched the single tear roll down Sam's cheek. "What … it … it wasn't your fault." She told him and realized that she really believed it. She believed his tale of what happened and she believed that there was nothing he could have done.

"Yes, it is." Sam swallowed. "Don't you see it? I'm the only connection … the only thing Mom and Jess had in common."

Jade shook her head, feeling the tears well up in her eyes as well as she listened to the despair in Sam's voice. "Sam …"

"If I had never met Jess, if I had stayed away from her, she would still be alive." Sam choked.

The utter devastation in his voice and his eyes broke her heart and even though she was hurting as much as he did, she wished she could give him any kind of comfort. Anything to make him feel better, to stop him from hurting. But she couldn't even take his hand, let alone pull him into the embrace she so desperately wanted to give him right now … for him as well as for herself. Never before she had felt the need to be close to someone as much as at this moment.

"You don't know that, Sam. Just because …"

"It would have never noticed her, Jade. If it hadn't been for me than … and I wasn't even there to protect her."

"You didn't know, Sam. How could you have possibly known something like this would happen?"

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but stopped himself before the words could leave his mouth. When he looked at Jade, there was so much guilt in his eyes, it took her breath.

"You couldn't have known … right?" She whispered.

"I dreamed of it." Sam replied, his voice almost inaudible. "I dreamed of it for days … but I just thought … I thought it were just that … dreams. I didn't know … I swear, if I had known I wouldn't have left her, never. I would have protected her …" His voice broke and he was unable to go on. Several more tears were rolling down his face and he quickly wiped them away. He didn't want to cry anymore … he was sick of feeling like this … he just wanted it all to be over. He wanted her back.

Jade took some deep breaths. She was now visibly shaking as well. All of this had to be some kind of nightmare. She had to be dreaming .. she was lying in a coma. So this had to be her subconscious playing tricks on her. It wasn't true … none of it.

But when she looked at Sam, she knew there was no way her subconscious could imagine something like this. And then something else Sam had said came back into her mind.

"What do you mean, _it_ would have never noticed her?"

Sam closed his eyes for a moment. Somehow he had wished that his words had gone unnoticed by her. But Jade never missed anything. He opened his eyes again and looked at her. He wanted her to see in his eyes that he was telling the truth, that no matter how crazy it sounded he wasn't lying.

"A demon … 22 years ago it killed my mother and 3 months ago it killed Jess. And I'm the only connection." He added in a whispered voice.

"What?" Jade looked at him as if he had lost his mind … then she remembered the last few days and that she in fact was a ghost right now and she felt as if she would pass out any second. "A … a demon? Sam …"

"You can believe it or not, Jade. That's what happened. Though it would probably be better for you to stick with the fire story … believe me, it's easier." Sam told her quietly. He hated that he had told her all that. He had never wanted to pull her into all this … but if she believed him now, she would involuntarily lose some of her innocence. She wouldn't be able to look out at the dark and not think of all the evil that might hide in it.

Jade swallowed and looked intently at Sam. She was trying to figure out if he was really telling the truth. She was looking for any sign in his eyes, his face that he was lying to her.

He wasn't.

And the realization that he was believing in what he was saying, that it might actually be true, felt like a kick to her stomach.

"I … I need to think about this."

Sam nodded slowly. He turned his head and looked back up at the ceiling. A moment later he closed his eyes. This conversation along with everything else today had worn him out. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer no matter how hard he might try to fight the sleep off. He blinked a few times and was relieved when he found Jade still sitting next to him on the floor. Somehow falling asleep didn't seem so terrify-ing with her close.

Not that he didn't think that the nightmares would not come back … after a conversation like this there was no way he would sleep through the night without dreaming of Jessica. But he was used to that … and with Jade next to him the dreams might even come a little bit later than usual.

Jade watched Sam's eyes falling shut and his breathing even out. A few moments later the pain that seemed to have been ingrained in his face was gone and he looked peaceful in his sleep. Jade felt some of the tension leave her body as she sat next to Sam, listening to his steady breathing. It had a calming effect on her ... even in his sleep Sam was able to give her comfort, she thought smiling.

Then her thoughts went back to their conversation. It hadn't really been very comforting, despite the fact that she had finally found out what had happened to her sister. Or better, what Sam thought had happened to her. She still had a hard time believing what she had heard. A demon had killed her sister? Because of Sam? Why? What could possibly be the reason?

And god, was she really considering the idea of a real existing demon to be true?

She had just gotten used to the idea that ghosts truly existed … and that had been hard to grasp, even though she had seen one with her own eyes and had turned into one herself … at least for the time being.

So ghosts and demons … what else? Did vampires exist too? Or werewolves? What about fairies or elves? Gnomes? She was resolved to ask Sam about those as soon as he woke up.

She leaned back against the wall – and didn't even try to think about how it was possible that she could lean against the wall and walk through one at the same time … that was something she had tried to solve watching ghost movies several times and she never had come up with a reasonable solution. One would think that being a ghost yourself might help with that … but no. She was still as clueless about that fact as before.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes … only to have them flown open again the next second when in her mind she saw her sister hanging from the ceiling, bleeding, screaming and then going up in flames.

Maybe Sam had been right … this was not how she wanted to remember Jess. And it was a lot more painful than to imagine her dying in a simple fire.

She shook her head to get a clear mind, but she couldn't stop her thoughts from going in circles. A demon had killed her sister. Sam had witnessed it. He blamed himself for her death. A demon had killed her sister.

She rubbed her hands through her hair in despair and looked back at Sam … who didn't look as peaceful as before anymore. His face was grimaced in pain and his head tossed from one side to the other. Her eyes fell on the clock on the nightstand … it was already after midnight. She had completely lost track of time. She had been sitting here for hours thinking about her sister's death and she hadn't even noticed.

A whimper from Sam brought her attention back to him. He was clearly having a nightmare … and if his face was anything to go by, it was a bad one. She leaned over him, her one hand hovering over his, her other gently tracing over his cheek without ever touching it.

"It's okay, Sam. It's just a dream. It's just a dream." She kept repeating in a soothing voice.

But he kept tossing from side to side and she was starting to worry what these movements were doing to his ribs.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and she saw Dean stepping quietly in. She quickly moved away from the bed, sensing that he would probably want to check on his brother … and she didn't want him to walk right through her. She was surprised how hard it was for her to step away from Sam. Being so close to him still had a calming effect on her … she was still close to a panic just thinking about this whole demon thing, but it didn't seem to be as bad when she had Sam at her side.

"Sammy, you're safe. You're just dreaming, little brother."

Dean's quiet, soothing words pulled her out of her thoughts. He was sitting on the bedside, talking quietly to his brother, his one hand squeezing Sam's, the other holding him on his chest to calm him.

"It's just a bad dream, Sammy. Everything's fine. You're safe and I'm right here with you."

With awe she watched how Sam stopped tossing and visibly calmed down. A moment later his eyes fluttered open.

"Dean?" He asked in a sleep filled voice.

"Right here, kiddo. You had a nightmare." Dean said with a warm smile on his lips to prove that now everything was all right.

Sam swallowed and kept looking at his brother. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a feeling you might need someone to pull you out of this dream." Dean replied quietly.

"Did I wake you?" Sam asked worried, his speech still sounding slightly slurred from sleep.

"Nuh, I was in another room, remember? I just couldn't sleep with all that girly stuff around me." Dean quipped. The truth was, he had slept deeply until something had woken him up. He had no idea what though ... he hadn't heard anything but somehow he had sensed that his brother needed him.

"Yeah, that's really freaky." Sam agreed with a small smile.

"Why don't you get back to sleep? It's still a few hours until morning."

Dean felt Sam's hand tighten around his and he swallowed. His brother didn't want him to go. He loved the fact that Sam still needed him so much … though he wished it wouldn't be necessary. If everything had turned out for Sam as he had planned, he wouldn't need his big brother to stay with him after his nightmares … he wouldn't even have any.

But things hadn't gone as planned … it seemed that in their family, they never did.

"Hey, uhm …" Dean cleared his throat. "How about I stay here for the rest of the night? The heating in my room isn't working and it's freezing cold in there. I could sleep on the couch here. This room might be a lot more pink that the other, but at least it's warm."

"Sure. You can have the bed if you want. I don't think I can sleep much more anyway. I can take the couch." Sam said, still sounding sleepy.

"Sammy, you're twice as long as the couch." Dean laughed quietly. "I don't want you to break any more ribs when you fall down from it. Just get some rest, you're gonna need it. Doctor's orders." Dean added with a grin.

"What doctor?" Sam questioned with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.

"Dr. D. Winchester, M.D.." Dean quipped. He was glad to see his brother smiling again.

"I must have missed your time on college."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't just lying around lazily while you were in Stanford."

Sam laughed quietly and then snuggled further into his bed, his eyes drifting shut. A few moments later his breathing evened and his grip around Dean's hand loosened. Dean gently stroked a strand of hair behind his brother's ear. He watched him sleeping a few more minutes, making sure that he was sleeping peacefully, before he got up and went back to his perfectly well heated room to get his pillow and blanket. He quickly returned to Sam's room and made himself comfortable on the couch. He shifted several minutes until he had found a position that should prevent him from falling down should he roll over in sleep … though he inwardly prepared himself to find himself on the ground sometime before morning. It really was a little girl's couch.

Jade had watched all that quietly from the other side of the room. She had to wipe away several tears as she watched Dean taking care of Sam. The devotion between the two brother's touched her heart and once again she was glad that Sam had Dean to look out for him. She hated the idea that he would have to go through all this by himself.

A smile appeared on her face when she noticed that the brother's faces were directed at each other even in sleep … always looking out for each other, never alone.

It was something she had longed for her whole life but even with Jess she had never fully stopped feeling alone.

Watching Sam sleeping peacefully again, she suddenly realized that she hadn't felt truly alone for days ... actually since the moment she had met him at the gas station. Even those first few minutes when they had done nothing but argued ... their usual way of talking, although it had been a bit more heating conversation then normal .. she hadn't felt alone. And it wasn't just that ... she also felt safe. Despite the fact that she had just learned that her sister had been killed by a demon, that she herself had nearly been killed by a ghost and that she wasn't in her own body ... at least temporarily ... she wasn't afraid. She felt safer now than she had in years.

And she had Sam to thank for that.

TBC

**A.N.: I have to apologize for the long delay between chapters. Real life is a bitch lately and keeps me from writing and on top of that I got kinda stuck with the first part of this chapter. It didn't really turned out the way I had planned ... I'm not really satisfied with it but couldn't find a way to make it better. I hope you don't dislike it completely. Thank you for being patient and still having interest in this story. And a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed for this story. Your feedback means so much to me :) And I promise I'll try to get the next chapter done faster. **


	8. Chapter 8

Smiling Dean watched Sam slowly waking up. It was a sight he didn't get to enjoy very often. Sam usually didn't wake up slowly … he jerked awake. Being haunted by nightmares almost every night, he never got more than a few hours of sleep. And he never woke up peacefully anymore.

It seemed to have been like this since forever. Dean could hardly remember a time when his little brother had slept through a night without being troubled by bad dreams, even as a kid. As soon as he had been old enough to realize what was out there in the dark and what their father was doing when he wasn't with them, the nightmares had started. Not every night at first … only when their father had been away longer than usual. Then, when he had gotten older and had started training with Dean, his nightmares had come more often … as if being prepared to fight already made him realize what he would be going up against in the future. Once Sam had started hunting with Dean and their father, he had nightmares almost every night. He didn't wake up from them all the time … but Dean could tell from his exhausted look in the morning that his sleep hadn't been peaceful. Dean had then gotten used to watch over his brother even in their sleep. Often he would wake up in the middle of the night, his little brother's quiet whimpers reaching through to him even in his sleep, and – mostly only half awake himself – he had calmed Sam enough to make the nightmare go away. He had gotten so used to this routine, that he had almost missed it when Sam had left.

And now, two years later, Sam was back and so were his nightmares. Only they were so much worse now and came so sudden and hit his little brother with such a brutal force, that often Dean woke up too late to calm him before waking up from the nightmares. It had reached the point where Sam only went to sleep when exhaustion claimed him and even then he didn't get much more then three or four hours before he bolted awake.

Dean knew that wasn't healthy and that his brother couldn't go on like this forever. But he had no idea how to fix it.

He was satisfied that he had managed to calm Sam enough last night to fall back asleep. He figured he had the meds Sam was taking to thank for that. If for nothing else, this freaking accident had at least made Sam sleep more than a few hours at a time. He was finally getting the rest he needed … only Dean couldn't really be grateful for that because his brother was also hurting all over at the same time.

He pushed any thoughts regarding the accident out of his mind and concentrated on his brother's slowly wakening. He had always loved watching Sam's ritual of slowly waking up since they had been younger because it was an indication that Sam was fine … that he was waking up simply because he had had enough sleep and not because his dreams scared him to wake up.

Sam's eyelids fluttered, ready to open any moment, but not quite yet and he stretched his arms, wincing as the pain from his broken rips shot through him from the movement, but not enough to fully wake him yet. Instead he snuggled closer into the bed again, pulling his blanket closer, a satisfied expression on his face.

When the smell of fresh coffee coming from downstairs reached Dean, he got up from the couch and quietly walked over to Sam. He knelt next to his bed and gently patted his brother's arm.

"Hey kiddo, time to wake up. Breakfast is waiting."

As much as he wanted Sam to stay asleep a little while longer, he also knew that Sam craved a real breakfast for a change … and if Elizabeth's dinner last night was anything to go by they would enjoy this breakfast a lot more than what their usually frequented, small town diner offered them.

Sam groaned and a moment later his eyes fluttered open. "Is that coffee?" He mumbled, his still sleepfilled eyes wandering to his brother's hands … disappointed to see that they were empty.

"Good Morning to you too, Sammy." Dean laughed. It figured that the first thing his brother noticed upon waking up was the smell of coffee. "Coffee is waiting downstairs. So you better get dressed fast before it gets cold."

A content smile appeared on Sam's lips as he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position and began climbing out of his bed. When Dean saw his grimaced face at the movement, he quickly grabbed the bottle with painkillers and a glass of water.

"Here, take these."

Looking grateful and unhappy at the same time, Sam took the pills from his brother and swallowed them with one swig. "Thanks."

"You ready to go down?" Dean asked a moment later, already standing in position to help his brother up.

"I'm gonna go hit the showers before going down." Sam replied.

At Dean's raised eyebrows … it really was hard to believe that Sam would voluntarily postpone his morning coffee … Sam went on explaining. "I haven't had a decent shower since the accident, it's about time. And since we're guests here, I don't want to … you know."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Right, we don't want you smelling in Grandma's kitchen." He laughed and settled down on the couch again.

This time it was Sam who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Dean asked surprised.

"You can go down without me, you know." Sam pointed out.

Dean opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't really come up with a logic reply. A moment later he settled for an easy one. "And who's gonna help you down the stairs?"

"I can walk on my own." Sam stated, then thought about his own words for a moment, remembering his painful attempt at getting down the stairs yesterday. "And if I don't, I'll call for you."

"What if you pass out under the shower?"

"Why would I pass out under she shower?"

"Uhm, you know, concussion, broken ribs, exhaustion and all your other little injuries from the accident." Dean scoffed.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. If I pass out, I'll call for you as well."

Dean gave him a look that said _I'd like to see how you want to do that_, but he eventually gave in. Logically he knew that he couldn't follow Sam everywhere, no matter how much he wanted to right now. And the bathroom was right above the kitchen ... should Sam really pass out, he should hear the thud from his falling downstairs. "Fine. But if you're not down there in 20 minutes, I'll come check on you."

"Make that 30 … I intent to have a long shower." Sam grinned and started walking towards the bathroom.

Inwardly Dean thought that in his speed, he should probably give his brother 40 minutes before he would start to worry … he was pretty sure that right now a snail could outrun his little brother without problems. He would love to tease Sam about his new walking style if it wouldn't look so painful … and he hated seeing his little brother in pain.

A few minutes later Dean arrived in the kitchen … overwhelmed to find the kitchen table filled with the best and most extensive breakfast he had ever seen. Elizabeth had thought of everything; there was coffee, fresh juice, rolls, toast, several jars of jelly and honey, cheese, sausage, pancakes, boiled and scrambled eggs …

"I'm in heaven." Dean grinned.

"Good Morning. Don't just stand there and stare. Eat!" Elizabeth ordered him. "You and you brother look like you're in desperate need of some decent food. I don't even want to imagine what you usually have for breakfast."

"Ah, McDonalds serves some pretty good food, you know." Dean quipped as he sat down. He immediately started filling his plate with food and sighed in pleasure as he took his first swig of coffee. "You shouldn't let Sammy drink this or he's never gonna leave again."

"It's normal, home brewed coffee. Here, take some more." Elizabeth said brusquely and refilled Dean's cup. Inwardly she was pleased he seemed to like it so much … it had been too long since she had guests in the house she could spoil and she sensed that these two weren't used to being looked after in a proper way.

"How is your brother?" She asked a moment later, after making sure that Dean had eaten his first toast without interruptions.

Dean hesitated a moment … first of all because he wasn't used to discuss Sam's well-being with strangers and second because how Sam was doing really wasn't easy to answer.

"He's still in a lot of pain … I don't think he'll do much walking in the near future. Though he can already walk on his own, so I take that as progress." He finally said quietly, already making plans how to get his brother as comfortable as possible in the Impala once they were back on the road.

"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you like. It might be better for Sam to heal here than in some motel." Elizabeth offered.

Dean squirmed uncomfortable on his chair; as much as he liked for Sam to have a place to recuperate … and Elizabeth's house was near perfect for that … he also wanted to get back on the road. Just take Sam and get away from this town that had nearly cost him his brother's life. Of course consciously he knew that he couldn't really blame the town. It had just been this freaking spirit's fault and it could have happened anywhere … but he would still feel a lot better if he saw the town left behind in his rearview mirror.

"You don't have to decide now. Just think about it." Elizabeth told him smiling; she had seen Dean's struggle. He reminded her of her uncle … never really at rest, always having some place to be, always needing to be on the road. Dean was just like him ... but she didn't think Sam was. "How long have you and Sam been hunting together now?"

Dean chuckled quietly … this was just another tough question to answer. "Since we were kids, actually_." My whole life. _"Sam took a break when he went to college, but after … uhm …"

"After Jessica's death." Elizabeth finished for him.

"Yeah, uhm … we're hunting together again since then. And we're looking for our Dad, you know, pick up his trail, see if we might run into him eventually."

The words had already left his mouth when Dean realized that he had just confided into a total stranger. He didn't like talking about his father with people he didn't know … and yet it had felt naturally to mention it towards Elizabeth.

"He's missing?"

For a moment Dean thought about lying to her; but he suddenly felt that talking about his father, openly, without suspicion, to someone who wasn't emotionally involved_, who wasn't ready to leave everything behind just to find him_, was a good thing. It actually felt like a relief to get it out. "Yeah, he … he is looking for something and … we don't know where he his. He doesn't call, doesn't answer his cell. We only get his stupid voicemail." Dean laughed quietly, a sad laugh that touched Elizabeth's heart.

She felt for these boys … she didn't know much about them, but the little she did know told her that they never really were allowed to have a normal life.

"I'm sure you will find him. Just don't give up hope."

"Never." Dean said and his words were spoken with so much determination that Elizabeth didn't doubt that he meant it. He wouldn't stop looking.

"It must have been hard for Sam, losing Jessica like that."

_You have no idea_, Dean thought bitter. "It was hard for everyone, I guess. It mean it always is … losing someone you love like this." He listened for any noises from upstairs for a moment, any indication that Sam might need him and suddenly he was overwhelmed by the need to talk about all the things that he couldn't fix. He looked at Elizabeth and suddenly she looked like she might hold all the answers to his questions, that by telling her the problem she would know how to fix it for him. "He has nightmares … I mean he always had nightmares, since he was a kid, but it's worse now. He hardly gets any sleep at all and … and I think, no … I _know_ he blames himself. That he couldn't save her, you know … and … and he's filled with so much rage, I'm afraid …" He swallowed, not sure how to go on.

"You're afraid it might destroy him." Elizabeth finished for him.

"Yeah." Dean nodded, looking at her defeated. "I've seen this before … our Dad, he … he was just like Sam is now. And … I mean, he never gave up, but he also … he also never really lived again afterwards. He just … he just survived and all he ever did was raising us and hunting this thing. That's all he ever cared about afterwards and I don't want that for Sam. I … I want him to have a life."

Elizabeth looked at him sympathetically. She didn't quite understand everything he talked about, about _this thing _his father was hunting and what _afterwards_ meant for him. But she knew that it wasn't her place to ask that. Dean would tell her if he'd wanted to. So instead she concentrated on what she did understand. "And what kind of life would that be?"

Dean shrugged, looking even more defeated than before. "He wants to be a lawyer. Can you imagine?" He shrugged. "Though it might come in handy. In my job, I get trouble with the police all the time, so knowing a lawyer who could bust you free might be a good thing."

"But he wouldn't be hunting with you then." The pain in his eyes broke Elizabeth's heart. It was obvious to her that Dean didn't want to lose his brother to a life like that, but that at the same time he would do anything in his power to make sure that Sam would get exactly that one day.

"No." Dean whispered. "But at least he would be happy."

Elizabeth wanted to respond, but in that moment Sam stepped into the kitchen.

"Good Morning."

"Good Morning, Sam. Have a seat." She gave him a warm smile and gestured him to sit down, immediately filling his cup with hot, steaming coffee.

"Thanks." Sam smiled happily and at the same time looked uncomfortably at all the food on the table. "You really didn't have to go through all this trouble."

"It's no trouble at all." Elizabeth assured him and smiled when she saw his satisfied expression while drinking his coffee.

"Sammy here is a real coffee addict." Dean grinned, having noticed the same expression on his brother's face.

"It's Sam." Sam said quickly, just so that Elizabeth wouldn't think that _Sammy_ was anything he would approve of.

"Well, Sam, enjoy your breakfast." Elizabeth told him sternly when Sam still hadn't shown any signs that he was going to start eating anything anytime soon.

"I'm not hungry, but thanks. Coffee is really all I need."

"Nonsense, breakfast is the most important meal during the day." Elizabeth pointed out authoritative.

"We're having the same discussion every morning." Dean sighed exasperatedly.

"Well, we are not going to discuss it today. Eat!" Determinedly Elizabeth placed a piece of bread on Sam's plate.

"No, really, I'm …" Sam started but when he found himself at the receiving end of Elizabeth Beauchamp's glare – the same glare that had left his brother speechless the last night – he shut his mouth again. "Fine." He muttered a moment later and began smearing honey on his bread.

Dean laughed silently … seeing his brother give in so easily made him like Elizabeth even more. But then he saw Sam cast an angry glare at the empty wall across the table and he froze.

"How long has she been in here?" He asked, afraid that Jade had listened to his conversation with Elizabeth … he figured that it was her who Sam had just glared at, not just the empty wall.

"Who?"

"Jade." Dean said impatiently.

"I don't know, she was already here when I came in. Why?"

"No reason." Dean shrugged it off, but Sam had already become suspicious.

"What were you talking about?"

"Just normal breakfast stuff, you know. Oh wait, no, you don't, because you never eat breakfast. Too bad, Sammy, if you did, you would know what normal people talk about during breakfast." Dean teased his brother and was relieved to see that he fell for it.

"Whatever." Sam muttered and turned his attention back to the bread in front of him. His head jerked up though a moment later and he looked back at the wall. "What?"

"What what?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed and looked at his brother. "Jade wants you to know that she won't reveal anything you said."

"Oh … good." Dean tried not to look too relieved … but failed miserably and Sam looked once again suspicious.

"Seriously, what were you talking about?"

"Stop the fussing and eat your breakfast." Elizabeth ordered and with that put an end to the conversation.

Neither Dean nor Sam dared to speak up again before Elizabeth was convinced that they had eaten enough. Even Jade stayed quiet.

XXXXXXX

Two hours later Dean found himself strolling over the Carlton City Public Cemetery. A few sunbeams had found their way through the thick cloud cover that had hung over the area the last few days and Dean enjoyed the little bit of warmth they were spending. Nevertheless he hid his hands in his pockets. He wished he had brought gloves or at least a warmer jacket … it was freezing cold already, even with the few and far between sunbeams. He didn't even want to think about how cold it would be during the night … although he probably wouldn't stay cold for long as digging out a grave in this frozen earth should warm him up quickly. But it would also take him forever and he wished he could take Sam with him to keep him company … grave digging wasn't really a very exciting task and having someone to talk to while doing it would at least stop it from becoming completely boring work.

But there was no way he would drag Sam out in the middle of the night to stand freezing next to a grave in the cold and watch him digging … he didn't want to add a cold to his current condition. No, tonight was a one-man-job and he would be glad when it was over.

After searching the cemetery for about an hour, he finally found Lilly Pendegrast's grave … it was well looked after and even despite the freezing temperature there were fresh flowers arranged on it and a small candle flickered in front of the tombstone. Trying to stop his teeth from clattering, Dean read the inscription:

_Lilly Pendegrast_

_Beloved daughter and friend_

_Born December 21th 1967, Died October 29th 1998_

_The spirit lives on when the body dies._

"Well, Lilly, you should have just stayed dead. Would have spared me a lot of hard work." Dean mumbled. He eyed the grave one last time before he walked back to the car. He had seen everything he needed to see.

XXXXXXX

"_Running, on our way. Hiding, you will pay. Destroy. Dying. One thousand deaths. Running, on our way ..."_

As loud as he could Dean sang along to his favorite music playing in the radio ... it was the one good thing about driving without his little brother as shotgun riding next to him. He could sing as loud and drive as fast as he wished and no one was there to complain. Grinning content from one ear to the other, Dean steered the Impala over the empty road, the landscape flowing by him. To his regret the drive only lasted a few minutes as he could already see Elizabeth's Beauchamp's house looming up behind the next corner. Dean raised his voice even a bit more, taken advantage of his time alone in the car, when he drove around the corner and his grin froze ... driving down Elizabeth's driveway was the Sheriff's car. Dean stopped singing immediately, his content of being alone for the moment rushing out of him in record time ... right now he wished for Sam to be sitting next to him more than anything else.

The Sheriff drove away from the house in the opposite direction, giving the worried brother no chance to see if there was anyone with him in the car.

What kind of business could the Sheriff possibly have had here?

TBC

**A.N.: Thank you all for your lovely feedback, it really means a lot to me :) **

**On a totally off topic matter I wanted to let you know that I started a Supernatural forum and I would like to invite you to join me there to talk about everything that's connected to the show - including fanfiction of course :) Just have a look at the homepage in my profile ... I'd be happy to talk to you soon :)**

**On a second matter ... I'm looking for a beta for my Supernatural stories. I'm afraid these chapters are full of mistakes and I hate making mistakes LOL So if anyone has the patience to put up with my mistakes, I'd be grateful for the help.**


	9. Chapter 9

After Dean had left to find Lilly's grave at the town's cemetery, Sam made himself comfortable on the living room couch. He was flipping through the many channels Elizabeth's cable television had to offer when Jade sat down next to him.

"How are you feeling today?" She asked quietly after staring at the TV for several minutes. Sam had stopped the channel flipping at a show about the wild life in northern Africa and they had both learned about the demeanor of lions towards their offsprings in the wilderness.

"Better." Sam replied, not taking his eyes from the TV.

Jade also stared intently at the TV, trying to think of a way to ask him all the questions that ran through her head since their conversation last night.

"The baby lions look kinda cute." She spoke up again a moment later.

"Yeah, well …"

Jade bit her lip; lions weren't exactly the subject she wanted to talk to Sam about … but she had no idea how to bring it up. What was she supposed to say? How are you? Have you ever killed a vampire before? Or a werewolf maybe? God, that sounded stupid just thinking about it. Eventually she decided to go with what she had.

"Have you ever killed one?"

"What?"

"A lion." She said, pointing at the TV.

"There are no lions in the US." Sam stated, looking at her like she had just gone crazy.

"There are some in the zoos."

"Why would I kill a lion living in a zoo?" Sam shook his head and turned back to the TV.

"It ... might have escaped from the zoo and to, uhm, save people you killed it." Jade wished the ground would open up and swallow her right now … she didn't think she had ever felt as stupid as in this moment and she hoped deeply that ghosts couldn't blush … because if they could she was pretty sure her head would look deeply red by now.

Sam looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why are we talking about this?"

She let out a frustrated sigh. "I was trying to get you to talk about your … your life as a hunter."

Sam chuckled. "Then why don't you just ask?"

Right, why hadn't she? She kicked herself mentally and shot an angry look at Sam … not that she had any reason to be angry at him, but it was better than admitting that not asking straight away had been plain stupid. "Okay, well, uhm, what are you hunting? Is it just ghosts and demons or …" Her voice trailed off and she looked questioningly at Sam.

"Lots of things."

"Such as?"

"Well, spirits for one thing. And, you know, all the other stuff." Sam was reluctant to tell her about this part of his life. She already knew too much for his like; he didn't want her to know it all … he didn't want her to live in his world.

"Sam." Jade looked at him intently, willing him to talk to her.

And Sam silently cursed himself ... and her for giving him that look. He had never, _never_ been able to resist that look. It ran in the family; Jessica and even their mother had the same look in their eyes when they wanted something … and they always got what they wanted.

"Fine." He reluctantly gave in. "Well, the last few weeks we've been hunting a Wendigo, the spirit of a dead boy, a Woman in White, that Hook Man, Bloody Mary and a demon. And it's been pretty much a variation of these things over the past few years. Throw in a Sasquatch or an evil kobold every now and then and that's pretty much it."

Jade looked at him with her jaw open.

"Happy now?" Sam tried to hide a grin … he was actually proud that he had made Jade speechless. He had seldom seen her at a loss for words.

Jade blinked a few times and tried to regain her composure. Okay, so she had expected werewolves, vampires and such … the mention of Bloody Mary or the Hook Man shouldn't throw her out of balance. But it had and when she was honest with herself, if Sam had told her that he had in fact killed a werewolf or a bunch of vampires, she probably would have reacted the same way. There was just no way for her to be prepared for a conversation like this.

"O-kay …" She released the breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. "Sam, you've only been gone for a couple of weeks. How many of these things are out there?"

"Too many." Sam sighed.

"For how long have you been doing this?" Jade asked quietly a moment later. Of course she already knew the answer to that question. She had heard Dean telling her grandmother this morning, but she still needed to ask. She needed to hear this from Sam.

"I went on my first hunt when I was thirteen." Sam shrugged. "It was kind of a necessity. Dad wouldn't leave me alone at the motel and he had started taking Dean with him on hunts since he turned sixteen. At first I had to wait in the car … that was until this Wendigo sneaked past them and made its way to the parking lot. I was so scared, I could do nothing but scream when it started pulling me out of the car." Sam laughed quietly and Jade stared at him terrified.

"Sam, that's awful! What … how … what did it do to you?"

Sam smiled slightly, the memory of that day clear in his mind. It really hadn't been one of his best days …

_As so often before 13 year old Sam Winchester sat on the back seat of his father's black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, his legs pulled close to his chest, his nose buried in a book. His feet were quietly tapping to the rhythms of the music he was hearing loudly with his walkman … he was listening to his brother's music, not because he liked it – he pretty much hated his brother's taste in music – but because it made him feel closer to his brother and therefore the feeling of being all alone in the car on a deserted parking lot in the middle of nothing but forests didn't feel as overwhelming and terrifying. Sam was so engulfed in the story he was reading that he didn't notice anything from his surroundings._

_He was used to waiting for his father and brother to come back from a hunt. He had done nothing else his whole life. He always worried, even more so since Dean had started hunting with their father together a few months ago. That's why he tried to keep himself busy by all means … and if that meant shutting out the world that was fine by him. The world was a too dark place to live in anyway. It was tempting to escape to a world of fantasy, to immerge into someone else's life to the degree that he didn't notice anything from the real world until the Impala's passenger door would open and Dean would greet him with his cocky grin and tell him about their latest success while their father stowed away the weapons in the trunk._

_Only this time he wasn't pulled back by the door opening … it was ripped out! And before Sam had time to even realize what was happening, he felt claws grabbing his legs and starting to pull him out. As soon as his eyes registered the creature that was dragging him out of the car he started screaming. He tried desperately to cling to the front seats, tried kicking his legs to free himself, but the Wendigo was stronger and a moment later Sam's head slammed on the ground. For a second his world turned black, only a second before he became aware of a searing pain in his head that he was sure it would explode any minute and then a wave of nausea swept over him. Before he was able to get his bearings back, the Wendigo hurled him around and with brutal force Sam's back slammed against the car._

_Sam was screaming the whole time. He wasn't aware of what he was screaming … later he figured he had been calling for his father but in truth he was calling for the one person he always relayed on saving him … his big brother._

_His whole body was trembling as the Wendigo pressed him against the car. He watched in terror as it raised it's hands and a second later its claws scratched over his chest. Sam's screams intensified with the pain and he was sure he would black out any second. But he didn't and while he was still screaming the Wendigo let him fall to the ground, grabbed him by his arms and began pulling him into the woods. Sam's back slid over the ground, hitting rocks and branches … he tried to get free, tried to stem his feet to the ground, bit it was no good. The Wendigo just kept going, dragging Sam after him, away from the car, away from the one place Sam had always felt safe._

_When he saw the trees above, he was sure he would die. Dean and his father would come back to the car to find it empty and they wouldn't even know what had happened. For a split second Sam was afraid that they would think that he might have run away, that they would believe he had left them … but then he remembered the ripped out door and he figured they wouldn't believe that he had done that. They would search for him, but would they find him in time?_

_His head slammed against a stone on the ground, then his back was dragged over it and Sam thought he'd never been in such pain before as he was now. He prayed that unconsciousness would claim him, that he wouldn't have to feel whatever it was the creature had planned for him when suddenly he heart a terrifying roar … but it wasn't coming from the Wendigo, it was coming from behind it._

_And then he hurt shots, many of them and the Wendigo let go of him. Finally free of the creature's grasp, Sam immediately crawled away a few feet until his back hit one of the trees behind him. Unable to go on any further, he pulled his legs to his chest, slung his arms around them and rocked back and forth, screaming the whole time. He kept his eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see that horrifying grimace ever again._

_A staggering scream reached his ears and he could smell burned flesh. He held his hands over his ears to shut out the screams … his own as well as the ones coming from the Wendigo._

_When he felt hands reaching for his shoulders, he jerked back in panic, lashing out wildly against anything that was trying to grab him. It took him a moment to recognize the voice talking to him … to understand the words spoken._

"_It's okay, Sammy, it's dead. You're safe, it's okay. Please Sammy, stop screaming, you're all right, the Wendigo is dead. You're safe."_

_It took Sam too long to understand the meaning behind the words and suddenly his brother's presence was replaced by his father. He was shaking him, slapping his face … softly so it wouldn't really hurt, but still hard enough to get his son's attention._

"_Enough Sam, stop screaming! Now!"_

_Sam immediately stilled and looked at his father with terror in his eyes. He wasn't screaming anymore, but he couldn't stop the trembling or the tears flowing down his cheeks._

"_It's okay, Dad. I got it."_

_And suddenly Dean was in front of him again, holding him gently by his shoulders. "It's okay, Sammy. You don't have to be afraid anymore. I killed it. You're safe. You hear me? Everything's okay now."_

_Sam only looked at his big brother with wide, still terrified eyes. He tried to calm down, to stop crying - he really did … but he could still smell the Wendigo, he could steel feel where he had hurt him, his head pounded like hell and his chest and back ached horribly. He wanted to stop trembling, but he just couldn't._

_And then suddenly he felt his brother's arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace, rocking him slightly and stroking his back. He kept talking to him in a soothing voice, repeating his words that it was okay, that the Wendigo was dead, that he had killed it and that he was safe now._

_He was safe. Dean had saved him._

_After a while those words sunk in and Sam stopped trembling and the tears didn't flow down his cheeks anymore. He expected Dean to let go the second he had calmed down, but Dean held onto him several minutes longer before finally pulling back._

"_You okay, Sammy?"_

_Sam only sniffed and nodded … which he regretted immediately as the small movement sent new stabs of pain through his head. He grimaced in pain and shut his eyes close for a second. When he opened them again, he found his father in front of him, holding him at his shoulders._

"_Where does it hurt, son?"_

_Sam tried to form an answer to his father's question, but couldn't decide where to start … he was hurting everywhere. And then his father began assessing his injuries by himself, gently palpating his body._

"_Those scratches will need stitching. We gotta get back to the motel." _

_And with that he took Sam in his arms and carried him back to the car, Dean trotting next to them, his eyes never letting go of his brother. Sam held his gaze … knowing that he was back with his family made him feel safe despite his hurting body and the smell of burned flesh that still hung in the air._

Smiling Sam thought to himself that still, years later, his brother made him feel safe just by being at his side.

"It didn't do much, really." Sam finally replied to Jade's question. "Dean suddenly showed up and the next thing I knew the Wendigo was dead. I couldn't stop shivering for hours and it took some of my Dad's famous yelling for me to finally stop screaming. I think if it hadn't been for Dean I would still sit crying in that woods." Again he let out a small laugh. "I guess I wasn't the most brave 13 year old."

"Are you kidding me? Sam, you were 13! And you were attacked by a … a Wendigo, whatever that is. God, any child would have cried then. Did it hurt you?" She eyed Sam intently as if looking for any Wendigo inflicted injuries on him.

"Nuh, just a few scratches. My Dad stitched me up and I was as good as new." Sam shrugged it off and turned back to the TV. The show had changed from lions to insects, which he didn't find very interesting, so he started flipping through the channels again.

"Jesus, Sam, stitches?"

Sighing he turned back to Jade. "Yes, stitches. What? It's not a big deal. I mean, it's not like I needed to go to a hospital. I just freaked. Anyway, after that Dean always took me with him."

"So basically you've been hunting since you were 13 years old."

"Yes."

"Why did you stop?"

Sam looked at her, guilt shining in his eyes. "It … it wasn't what I wanted. I just … I wanted a normal life. And college was just that ... normal."

"What did your Dad say?" Jade asked quietly. She had noticed the guilt in Sam's eyes … and it wasn't really normal for someone to feel guilty for going to college. And there was also the fact that he never talked about his family and she was eager to learn more about this complicated relationship he seemed to have with his father and brother.

Sam let out a short laugh. "He, uhm … he didn't want normal."

"He didn't want you to go?"

"_If you leave now, you don't need to come back. I mean it, Sam! Don't come back!"_

"No, he didn't." Sam kept his eyes plastered on the TV. He really didn't want to talk about his father right now.

"But wasn't he proud?"

_"Your Dad said you were off at college. ... Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time."_

Sam closed his eyes for a moment, Jerry Panowski words still ringing in his ears. He didn't know anymore what to believe when it came to his father.

"Look, Jade, why do you want to know all this? Why do you even care all of a sudden?" He asked with a raised voice. He felt guilty for lashing out at her like this … despite everything what he had told her last night, she had no idea how complicated his family were. And he was too tired to explain it all now.

"I always cared! But you blocked every question when it came to your family. Not even Jess knew much about your life before you showed up in Stanford." Jade had started yelling as well and now they both glared at each other angrily.

"Well, now you know why." Sam eventually hissed and turned back to the TV.

Jade scoffed and jumped up from the couch. Cursing the stupidity of men, she stormed out of the living room … only to return a moment later.

With a deep exhale she sat down next to Sam again. She loved their usual bickering, but she hated to really fight with Sam. She didn't want him to be angry and she had to admit that she might have been out of line just a little bit. "Fine, you can ask me anything you want. I promise I'll give you an honest answer."

"What?" Sam looked at her in surprise.

"Well, you answered all my questions, so now it's your turn. Just ask." Jade leaned back against the couch and watched him expectantly.

"I don't have any questions."

"Oh come on, there's gotta be something you want to know. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Go ahead."

Sam thought about that for a moment and then turned to Jade with a malicious grin. "Okay, why are you always so snippy?"

"I'm not snippy." Jade exclaimed indignantly.

"I thought you said you wanted to be honest." Sam pointed out grinning.

Under normal circumstances Jade would have slapped him on the arm for that grin, but as that was just not possible in her current condition she settled for an angry glare. "You're going to ask a real question now or not? You get one more chance."

"Alright, alright. Let's see … what did I always want to know about Jade Moore?"

Sam took his time and Jade started tapping her fingers on her leg impatiently … what was taking him so long? She could think of hundreds of different questions to ask him in a second. Was she really that boring that he couldn't think of anything to ask? Or did he just not care?

"Okay, what about you and Tom?"

That question took her off guard. She really hadn't expected a question about her boyfriend. "What about us?"

"I mean, what do you see in that guy? He's …"

"He's what?"

"You're supposed to answer the question, not ask." Sam stated.

Jade scoffed. "Fine. Tom is … he is nice and smart and funny …"

"Funny? Tom?" Sam laughed and automatically flinched backwards when Jade's hand went for his arm. He wasn't fast enough and her hand went right through him. This angered her even more and she glared furiously from her hand to Sam and back. Sam laughed only louder.

"That's not funny."

"You're right. And neither is Tom. Come on, seriously, that guy can't even tell a good joke without sounding boring."

"He is not boring. As a matter of fact, I had many interesting and exciting conversations with him since I met him." Jade replied indignantly.

"About what?"

She hesitated a moment and cocked her head to the side. "Uh … the law … for example."

"The law." Sam echoed in a low voice.

"Yes, it is quite amazing how a business student can know so much more about the law than certain law students I know."

Sam wanted to reply to that, in fact the perfect response was already on his lips, when he noticed a movement from outside the window. He visibly paled when he saw the Sheriff's car stopping in front of the house.

"Shit." He mumbled.

"That's all you have to say? That's weak, Sam, even for you." Jade quipped, but her grin froze when she saw the worried look in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

She followed his line of sight until she saw the Sheriff's car herself. "Oh … so, how much trouble are you really in?"

Sam rolled his eyes and got up from the couch … if the Sheriff was here for him, he didn't want to be caught sitting on the couch. Not that standing would do him much good either; it wasn't that he could run away in his current condition. But it still made him feel better.

Jade followed his example and together they stood in front of the couch, staring at the living room door and waiting for the Sheriff to come inside. They heard the door bell rang and a moment later the front door creaked open and they heard mumbled voiced coming from the corridor.

"What do you think he wants?" Jade whispered.

Sam only shrugged and Jade asked herself why she had whispered in the first place … it wasn't like anyone but Sam could hear her.

They both visibly tensed when the living room door slowly opened and a man stepped in … they were surprised to see that he was not wearing a Sheriff's uniform and looked in fact very familiar to both Sam and Jade.

"Tom?" They called out in unison.

TBC

**A.N.: Thank you all for reading and especially for reviewing this story :)**

**To anyone who has send me a pm after I asked for a beta, I'm sorry if I haven't replied yet ... my email alerts are down, I'm getting nothing from ff net at the moment, including pm's. You can send me an email (it's in my profile) if you want. If not I promise I will reply as soon as I get my email alerts again. **


	10. Chapter 10

"Tom?" Sam and Jade called out in unison and stared at the man standing in front of them.

"Sam? Oh my god, it's really you. I couldn't believe it when Mrs. Beauchamp said you were here. Are you all right? What happened to you? Jade was furious when you didn't even show up for the funeral. Where have you been? What happened to you? I've been trying to call you but you never picked up your cell. I left you tons of emails. Did you even get any of them?"

Sam sighed and automatically took a step backwards when their unexpected visitor walked up to him and pulled him into an embrace, patting his hand several times on Sam's back. He never stopped talking while doing so.

"Well, we can talk about Jade now, if you'd like." Elizabeth said sharply and with that put an immediate stop to Tom's tirade.

"Yes, of course. So, what happened? Where is she? I've been trying to reach her for days but she's not answering her cell and …" He stopped and cast a suspicious glance in Sam's direction.

Sam only sighed and sat back down on the couch. He noticed - to his relief - the Sheriff's car pulling into the driveway again.

"Jade had an accident." Elizabeth said into the silence, in the same sharp voice she had used before. She immediately had Tom's attention again.

"An accident? What...what accident? What happened? Is she hurt? Where is she?"

Sam rolled his eyes as he listened to Tom's new tirade of questions. Inconspicuously he leaned closer to Jade. "You were right, he is kinda funny."

Jade huffed in response. "Oh shut up. Just tell him where I am."

"I'm trying." He whispered back. "But he doesn't really give us a chance to say anything."

"For god's sake, boy, stop talking." Elizabeth finally had enough of Tom's questions. "If you want to have an answer, you have to give people the chance to talk."

Tom looked slightly taken aback, but he finally stayed quiet and looked expectantly at Elizabeth.

"Good. Now, Jade is in hospital." Elizabeth explained. "She had a car accident two days ago. She has a concussion, two broken ribs, a broken leg and numerous cuts and bruises. And …" She paused for a moment and let the information sink in before she would deliver the worst part of the news. "She is in a coma."

"A coma? Oh my god, what …" Tom stopped himself from talking and just looked in horror from Elizabeth to Sam, then back to Elizabeth.

"Now, I don't think we need to worry." Elizabeth assured him. "I'm sure she will wake up soon. She is just not … not ready yet."

"Not ready? Wha… what is that supposed to mean?" Tom stammered.

"Yeah, what _is_ that supposed to mean?" Jade wanted to know as well and Sam had to admit he would like to have an answer to that question too … though he wasn't ready to say that out loud.

"It means what I said. Now, I assume you will want to stay here. I don't have any more guest rooms ready, you will have to sleep on the couch." Elizabeth told him decisively.

"Oh, he can have one of our rooms. We don't mind sharing." Sam put in quickly. He didn't think that Dean would voluntarily spend another night on the couch, but it would make him feel a lot better if he did. He knew his brother would do it in an instant if Sam asked for it, but that was something he simply couldn't do. But if Tom needed a room to sleep in, then …

"I don't want him to stay in my room." Jade said quickly, which earned her a surprised look from Sam.

"Nonsense, you boys need your rest. You keep your rooms." Elizabeth said, using her authoritative voice that no one ever dared to object against.

"I'm fine here, thanks Mrs. Beauchamp." Tom smiled slightly while eyeing the couch suspiciously. It didn't look very comfortable to spend the night on.

In that moment the living room door flew open and Dean stormed in.

"Sam?!" He hollered out, coming to an abrupt stop at seeing his brother sitting safely on the living room couch. A wave of relief washed over him. "Sammy ..."

"Hey Dean."

"What happened? I saw the Sheriff driving away." Dean asked.

"Oh, the Sheriff came with me." Tom explained and suddenly found himself at the receiving end of Dean's inquiring and highly suspicious glare.

"And who are you?" Dean looked at Tom with a raised eyebrow. He already didn't like the guy.

"Tom Jenkins. Nice to meet you." Tom said, smiling and holding out his hand to Dean.

"What were you doing with the Sheriff anyway?" Sam asked quickly before Dean could say – or do – anything. He could clearly see that his brother disliked Tom more and more with every second.

"Oh, my car broke down and the Sheriff was kind enough to drive me here. After I told him that I'm engaged to Elizabeth's Beauchamp's granddaughter he was more than happy to help me out."

"Engaged?" Sam called out surprised. He cast a reproachful look at Jade. "You never said anything about that!"

"Uhm ..." Jade looked at him guiltily and sank deeper down the couch. Not for the first time today she wished she could just disappear.

"Well, how could I? You didn't return my calls." Tom defended himself, not even realizing that Sam wasn't looking at him but at an empty spot on the couch. "Anyway, I really would like to see Jade now. Since I don't have a car at the moment, could I borrow yours for the ride?"

When Sam noticed that the question had been directed at his brother, he nearly choked in surprise.

"You talking to me?" Dean asked in a low voice.

"Well, uhm, yes. I mean, that is your car out there, right?" Tom replied, looking less sure of himself than he had before.

"Damn right that's my car. And I'm the only one driving her. Well, me and Sammy, when he behaves himself."

"Her?" Tom asked, looking slightly confused.

Sam only snorted in response.

"But how am I supposed to get to the hospital without a car?" Tom exclaimed when he realized that Dean really wasn't going to lend him his car.

"Not my problem." Dean replied and sat down on the couch next to Sam. He grabbed the remote control and started flipping through the channels.

Sam did his best to hide his amusement, and Tom cast a helpless glance at Elizabeth.

"Don't worry, you can use my car." She told him. "It's a bit old, so if the engine starts to shake, gun the gas a bit more. And keep your eyes on the temperature. If the needle hits the red, cut the gas fast because you've got about three seconds before the engine explodes. Just remember that and you'll be fine. Oh, and you have to wear this. It's for protection." She handed him a small amulet hanging on a necklace, her voice not allowing any objection. "Don't take it off!" She said, shooting him a warning glare.

"O-kay. Thanks ... I guess." Tom said, throwing an uncomfortable look at Dean, as if hoping that he would still change his mind. Which he didn't, of course.

XXXXXXX

Night came eventually. Tom still hadn't returned, which left Jade beaming with joy of how great care Tom was taking of her, not willing to leave her side at the hospital.

Sam ignored her for most of the time, only passing something on to her grandmother every now and then when Jade wanted to talk to her. He didn't look at Jade once though ... he was still angry she hadn't told him about the engagement.

And Dean was happy sitting in front of the TV, a beer in one hand, the remote in the other, with the prospect of killing an evil spirit ahead of him.

"So, when are we leaving?" Sam asked.

The clock at the wall showed it to be almost midnight.

"We?" Dean cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, we."

"You don't really expect me to drag you there with me, do you?"

"Well, you don't expect me to let you go alone, _do you_?" Sam retorted.

"Sam, we are not having this discussion. You can barely walk two feet without swaying, you can't dig and you can't stand around for hours watching me do the work. So how exactly are you going to help me?" Dean tried to reason with his brother. God, why was Sam always this stubborn?

"I can walk just fine. And you need someone to watch your back." Sam insisted. He would not let his brother go there alone.

"It's a normal salt and burn, nothing dangerous. I don't need anyone to watch my back. I've done that, like, a thousand times." Dean replied, feeling slightly insulted that his little brother thought he had to watch out for him. That was his job.

"You never did it alone." Sam objected.

"Sure I did. What, you think Dad was holding my hand all the time you were living your fancy life in Stanford? I did my fair share of hunts all on my own and I never, _not once _needed you to watch my back." Dean knew he had hit a mark when Sam paled and didn't say anything else. He silently cursed himself. He hadn't meant to say it like that. Hell, the truth was he had needed his little brother during those two years; he had needed him every single day. Not to watch his back, just to be with him, at his side where he belonged. But his stupid Winchester pride prevented him from ever saying that. "Look, Sammy, technically you still should be in hospital. Standing for hours in the cold in the middle of the night isn't gonna make you heal any faster, it's just gonna make it worse. And the longer it takes for you to get better, the longer we have to stay here and postpone looking for Dad. So let me take this on my own."

Sam sighed and looked back at his brother. Dean could see the pain in his little brother's eyes ... not a physical pain, but pain over everything that had happened since he had picked him up in Palo Alto so many weeks ago. He wished he could say anything, _do_ anything to make that pain go away, but he just didn't know how.

Sam eventually nodded. "Fine. But call me as soon as you're done."

"Sure thing, bro."

Half an hour later Dean left in the Impala, leaving Sam alone with Jade again. Elizabeth had long gone to bed by then.

Not really interested in talking to Jade, Sam started flipping through the different TV channels again, trying desperately to stay awake. He had dozed on and off all day, and he hated that he wasn't able to stay as awake and alert as he wanted to. This stupid accident had really screwed up all their plans. Instead of looking for their father, they were stuck here for as long as he wasn't better, and already a new hunt had found them. He really, _really_ hated that. And okay, yes, he had met Jade again, which had been nice. He had actually missed her the most out of his friends from Stanford, which had surprised him, because he had never seen her as an important person in his life. Sure, they had spent a lot of time together, but that had only been because she had been Jess's sister.

And now she was _engaged_.

He still couldn't believe it.

"What is your problem, Sam?" Jade's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"For the last half hour or so you've been staring at the guy reading the latest stock market report as if you were holding a personal grudge against him."

Startled Sam looked from Jade to the TV where an almost bald, middle aged man in a dark suit was telling them that the dollar was trading at 119.28 yen at 8:50 a.m. Monday, up from 119.12 yen late Friday in New York ... he really couldn't care less about that.

He grimaced and flipped the channel.

"What's wrong, Sam? Why are you suddenly so mad at me? Just because I haven't told you about the engagement?" Jade looked at him incredulously.

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but was unable to find the right words. He had actually no idea why he was so mad. So what if Jade was engaged to Tom! It wasn't really his business. And Tom wasn't a bad guy. Annoying, yes, but deep down he was a good man. He just couldn't imagine Jade being with him for the rest of her life.

Eventually he just shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it just ... surprised me."

"It's not that I wanted to keep it a secret from you." Jade said quietly.

"I know." Sam nodded and hoped she would let it drop. He was already feeling stupid for the way he had acted.

"It just hadn't come up yet." She went on.

"It's okay, really."

"But you're still mad." Jade stated, looking at Sam intently.

"No, I'm not." Sam replied sharply ... a little bit too sharp to sound convincing.

"Look ..."

She never got to finish her sentence, as at that moment a loud blast was heard from outside. Startled, both Jade and Sam jumped up from the couch; Jade far faster than Sam. They hurried to the window and Sam quickly turned off the lights so he could see something outside.

"Oh god." Jade gasped.

Sam needed a moment longer for his eyes to adjust to the darkness outside ... but then he saw it too. A car was lying in the ditch, smoke coming out from under the hood.

"Is that your grandma's car?" Sam asked, trying to see anything in the dark.

"Tom!" Jade called out and hastily ran from the room.

"Jade, wait!" Sam called after her, but it was too late. She was already gone. He cursed under his breath and cast another glance outside the window ... just in time to see a ghostly figure appearing in front of Tom who had by now crawled out of the car. Muttering a new curse, Sam opened the window. "Tom! Get back to the house, fast!"

Sam yelled as loud as he could, but Tom didn't seem to hear him. Instead he ran off in the opposite direction, away from the protecting circle around the house and straight into the forest.

"Damn it!" Sam slammed the window shut, and as fast as he could, he ran, grabbing his jacket, a flashlight and the shotgun filled with rocksalt on his way out. Dean had insisted that he kept it within reach, and even though Sam had laughed about it at the time, he was now grateful for it.

He was hurting all over as he reached the street, but he ignored the pain and kept running as fast as his condition would allow him, following Tom and the ghost of Lilly Pendegrast into the forest.

XXXXXXX

Swearing, Dean wiped the sweat from his brow. Digging up a grave in the middle of winter was really hard work. The ground was so frozen, he was lucky his shovel hadn't broken yet. He had been digging for almost two hours now, and still he hadn't reached the coffin. This was taking forever and he almost wished he had taken Sam up on his offer ... the quiet around him was getting to him. He had always hated the quiet, even more so since Sam had returned at his side. He missed his brother's ramblings. Hell; he would even let him recite the entire law book if he wanted to. Anything but this freaking quiet around him.

For a moment he considered taking a break and calling Sam. A few minutes of talking with his little brother might make this whole ordeal at least a little bit easier to handle. He had already flipped his phone open when he changed his mind. Sammy was probably already asleep. Even though he had been determined to stay awake until his brother would return, Dean had seen him dozing off several times during the day. And he was grateful for that; the kid really needed the sleep.

Sighing he put his cell phone back into his jacket. He picked up the shovel again and kept digging. The sooner he finished this the better; though he was afraid that he would be busy here until morning. Elizabeth better have the breakfast ready when he came back to the house.

TBC

**A.N.: A huge thank you to** **HardyGurl94 for beta reading this story. :) And thanks to everyone else for reading and reviewing ... you guys are great :)  
**


	11. Chapter 11

Panting, Sam ran through the forest, his flashlight directed at the footprints on the ground. It was the first time since their arrival in this area that he was grateful for all the snow … without it he would have no idea where Tom had run to. He called his name over and over again, but never got a response. He also called for Jade, but she too kept quiet … or hadn't heard him. Or couldn't …

A shiver ran down Sam's spine when he thought about what Lilly Pendegrast could have done to Jade by now. Could one spirit harm another? Could they hurt each other? Kill each other? That question never really had come up before and he felt sick with worry just thinking about it.

Pain was shooting through his leg with every step he took, his ribs screamed in protest at the movement and his headache had returned with a throbbing ache, but he hardly felt any of this. He didn't care about his own well-being at the moment … he knew that Dean would chew his ass for this when he found out, but at the moment all he could think of was getting Jade safely back to the house. And Tom of course. And if possible, himself as well.

Suddenly he heard a scream ahead of him. It was cut short after only a moment and Sam stilled, trying to hear anything else. When he couldn't, he started running again and a few minutes later he saw Tom, pinned to a tree, Lilly standing directly in front of him with her hands around his throat. The skin of his face had turned to a deep red as he was struggling to get in air.

Jade was standing a few feet away, screaming furiously at Lilly, but apparently she was unable to do anything to help her fiancé.

Sam reacted immediately.

"Hey!" He shouted and raised the shotgun.

When Lilly turned to him, he fired. His shot was a direct hit and with an angry scream, the spirit disappeared. Not being held up by Lilly's ghostly arms any longer, Tom sagged to the ground.

"Tom, are you all right?" As fast as possible Sam limped to the other man. Now that he knew Jade was safe, he became painfully aware of his hurting body and he could practically feel all strength rushing out of him.

But he knew he couldn't give in to that now. Not yet at least. Lilly could return any moment and he needed to get them all back to the house.

"Can you walk?" Sam asked, kneeling next to Tom.

"Sam? Wh-what was that?" Tom stuttered, still gasping for air.

"I'll explain later. Now get up, we need to get back to the house. Where's your amulet?" Sam asked while searching the ground around them with his flashlight.

"Amulet? What … that thing Mrs. Beauchamp gave me? I took it off in the car, I … I guess it must still be there." Tom said, his voice still quavering. He stared at Sam with wide terrified eyes, his mind trying to grasp what just had happened.

"You took it off? You …" Sam bit down any remark that was on his lips and just let out an exasperated sigh. He couldn't really blame Tom. He didn't know anything about ghosts and other evil creatures. But sometimes he could kick people in the head for their stupidity. Did they really think they were given protection amulets for no reason?

"Let's just get …" Sam never got to finish his sentence as he suddenly felt something pull him back. A second later his head slammed into the nearest tree and he found himself face to face with the ghost of Lilly Pendegrast.

She had come back a lot faster than he had expected.

Sam cursed when he saw his shotgun lying on the ground next to Tom; he really shouldn't have let go of it. He could already hear Dean lecturing him about it when he'd find out.

"Tom! Shotgun!" Sam choked out, his voice barely audible as Lilly had now started strangling him with her ice-cold hands. He felt shivers run through his spine from the cold while he was trying to gasp for breath. He could hear Jade calling his name somewhere in the background. She sounded even more scared than before.

A loud blast shattered through the night. Tom had grabbed the gun and had fired a shot at Lilly … missing her by several feet. Sam would have cursed loudly if he had been able to, because now the gun needed to be reloaded first before Tom could use it again, the rounds were in Sam's jacket and Lilly's attention had turned back to Tom. She let go of Sam and with an evil grin she walked up to Tom who backed away from her, pointing the shotgun at her and pulling the trigger again and again … without result.

"Tom! Back to the house, now!" Sam yelled and was proud that his voice was louder than a whisper again. He got back to his feet, heavily leaning on the tree next to him as his leg threatened to give in under him as an excruciating pain shot through it.

Tom looked up at him for a moment, then back to the ghostly figure in front of him. With a devastated cry he threw the shotgun at the ghost, turned around and ran back to the house … or at least what he hoped was the direction to the house.

"Tom, no! Get back here, you can't leave him alone! Tom!" Jade screamed, furious that the man she loved was capable of just running away, leaving Sam, who had saved him and was now kneeling on the snow covered ground again, behind. "TOM!"

Lilly had quickened her pace to go after Tom, but suddenly she stopped, froze in her movements before her head slowly turned towards Jade. Her face changed into a malicious grin as she eyed the other woman intently for a moment. Her evil grin widened even more, and a second later she was next to Sam again, grabbing him by his arms and throwing him several feet through the air.

Sam hit the ground before he even realized what had happened. He hit his head hard on the frozen ground and his vision swam, black spots appearing before his eyes. For a long moment he couldn't breathe, as the impact had pressed all air out of his lungs and his hurting ribs hindered him to take in any new air. He struggled for air, but each intake sent a stabbing pain through his chest.

He was almost relieved when he felt himself lifted again in the air, for that took the pressure of his ribs and he was finally able to breathe again. The relief only lasted a short moment though as the next second he found himself pinned against a tree again, with Lilly's hands around his throat.

"Let him go, you freaking bitch!" Jade screamed, and several more curses slipped past her lips that she hadn't even known she knew. She tried desperately to get the angry spirit away from Sam, but she couldn't get a grip on Lilly … as with everything else her hands slipped right through the ghostly figure.

Sam heard Jade screams, but couldn't see her. Lilly's angry face was all he saw in front of him, his vision only disturbed by black spots appearing in front of his eyes. His fingers were clasped around Lilly's hands that still squeezed his throat. He didn't know for how long he hadn't been able to breath, but he knew that he wouldn't last much longer. When the world started to spin, he knew he had lost.

XXXXXX

With all his might Dean thrust the shovel in the ground … and finally, _finally_ he felt it hitting on wood. He had found the coffin.

"About time." He mumbled.

Sighing in relief, he wiped some sweat from his brow. Who would have thought that it was possible to sweat in this cold? As soon as Sam was better, he would make him dig out every grave for the next year. Not that any of this really was his brother's fault, but someone had to pay for the fact that Dean had just spent hours digging up a grave in frozen earth. And little brothers always were the perfect target for payback.

He threw the shovel up on the ground and climbed out of the grave. Smiling he grabbed the canister with gasoline, the salt and the matches … now came the fun part of this whole digging business.

"Rest in peace, Lilly Pendegrast. Wherever you might end up after this." He grinned and poured the gasoline and salt over the bones, and with an even wider grin, the match followed a moment later. Satisfied, he watched the bones go up in flames. This was the perfect salt and burn – except for the frozen ground, of course, he had been able to dig undisturbed by any humans or spirits. Why couldn't their job be this easy more often?

He watched the bones burn, and when he was convinced nothing was left, he began filling the grave. When he was done, he collected his stuff and flipped out his cell phone. He had promised Sam he'd call him as soon as he was done, and Dean always held his promises … at least the ones made to his little brother.

He let the phone ring until the voicemail was heard … of course, Sam was already sleeping. Shaking his head, Dean decided to try one more time. If Sam didn't wake up from that, then so be it.

A moment later he heard Sam's voicemail again and flipped the phone shut. Smiling, he imagined Sam lying in his warm bed, sleeping peacefully.

Only that Sam never really slept peacefully … never had and probably never would, especially not after having watched the woman he loved dying, pinned to the ceiling, with a slashed stomach and flames erupting around her, burning everything and everyone that came in its path.

Dean's smile faded and he quickly threw everything in the back of the Impala. Then he jumped behind the steering wheel and started the engine. If Sam was sleeping, he was about to have nightmares, and Dean wanted to be there as fast as he could to wake him up from them … to keep his little brother safe from anything that might scare him.

XXXXXXX

"No, please, let him go. Please." Jade begged. With horror she had watched how Sam had stopped struggling and now his arms hung motionless by his sides. Lilly's hands were still grasped around his throat; Sam's lips had turned blue and she knew that if she didn't get him free any moment now, he would die.

_He would die!_

"Please, he has nothing to do with this. He is not a part of this family. Please, you can have me, but please, please let him go!" She had sagged down on her knees as she begged for Sam's life. She couldn't lose him. Not Sam, not like this.

Tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was just about to go on with her pleas, when a terrifying scream escaped Lilly's mouth. With fury in her eyes she glared around her, her eyes locking with Jade's for a long moment, before she threw Sam through the air again.

Unable to do anything, Jade watched as Sam hit the ground. She couldn't remember ever having felt more scared than at this moment … except maybe when she had seen him unconscious in the burning car. Ignoring Lilly's screams, Jade crawled to Sam who lay on his back, not moving, not making any attempt to get up. His eyes were closed.

_God, please, don't let him be dead._

When she had finally reached him, she noticed with relief that he was breathing. His chest was moving up and down with every breath he was taking and right now it was the most wonderful thing Jade had ever seen. She wanted to take his hand, let him know she was here, with him … but of course she couldn't. She still was a damn ghost and she couldn't touch anything. So instead she bent down to him and whispered in his ear.

"I'm here, Sam. You're going to be okay. Just please, please wake up." She swallowed when he didn't react to her words. "Just open your eyes, plea…"

An even louder and more terrifying scream from Lilly made Jade look up at the spirit … just in time to see her ghostly figure erupt in flames and then disappear.

And suddenly she was all alone in the forest with Sam … there were no sounds around her except Sam's breathing. She swallowed and closed her eyes as the darkness and quiet surrounding her threatened to overwhelm her. She usually wasn't afraid of the dark, never had been and never thought she would be … but that had been before she knew about ghosts and demons and wendigos and all the other creatures Sam had told her about.

The dark really was something to be afraid of and she was more afraid now than ever.

But there was still Sam … he needed her help. And to help him she had to stay strong. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes again and looked at Sam.

"Sam, you have to wake up. You have to wake up because it's too cold to just lie around in the snow. You're going to freeze and I can't … I can't help you. I can't get you out of here, so you have to do it yourself." She looked at the still form of Sam, willing him to at least open his eyes. "Sam, please, wake up."

And finally, after a long moment, Sam slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and looked at Jade in confusion. "What …"

He didn't have to finish his question as the memory came back to him instantly. He groaned as he became aware of his hurting body … he didn't think there was a part on him that wasn't in some kind of pain. And he was freezing, god he was freezing. "Cold …" He choked out and wondered why it was so hard to say even this one word.

Jade let out a relieved laugh at seeing Sam awake … but her joy didn't last long as he didn't look like he was going to stay conscious for very long. She frantically looked around, hoping that maybe Tom would return. Or that Dean had come back and was already looking for his brother.

She didn't see either of them, but her eyes spotted a small metallic device in the snow, only a few feet away. Sam's cell phone … he must have lost it when Lilly had thrown him through the air.

She looked back down at Sam who had started shivering and looked even paler than before. And his eyes were closed again.

"No, no! You have to stay awake, Sam. You hear me? You have to stay awake and tell Dean and let him know where you are." Without thinking about it, her hand grabbed Sam's shoulder … going right through it.

"Damn it!" She shouted in frustration. She flinched when she saw Sam's shivering increase at the cold contact, but at least he was looking at her again. "Sam, that's your cell phone over there. You think you can reach it? Then you can call Dean and tell him where you are. He's gonna come and get you out of here."

The despair was clearly audible in Jade's voice. She wished she could do anything else than just talk to Sam. She wanted to touch him, get him somewhere where he would be safe. Where he wouldn't die from hypothermia faster than his injuries would kill him.

"Dean …" Sam blinked a few times and finally turned his head slowly in the direction of the phone lying in the snow.

Jade could have screamed with relief when Sam finally responded to her words. "Try to get the phone, Sam. Then you can talk to your brother."

Sam's arm slowly moved to where his phone was lying. Using all his strength left, he tried to reach it, but it wasn't enough. He only managed to lift his arm a few centimeters, before it fell back on the ground. "I … can't."

"Yes, you can. Just stretch your arm, maybe you can reach it. It's so near." Jade tried to coax him. He couldn't give up. She wouldn't let him.

Sam did as he was told, but he couldn't grasp it. Only a few millimeters were missing. "I'm sorry."

"Come on, Sam. You have to get it. You have to tell Dean where you are." Jade's despair grew when she saw Sam slowly slipping back into unconsciousness. "You're gonna freeze to death here!"

Sam's eyelids fluttered open again and with dazed eyes he looked at Jade. Their eyes locked and she thought she would drown in his hazel eyes … just like she had when she had seen him for the first time. The memory suddenly felt so strong, so real as if it had just happened yesterday.

_She was carrying so many books through the narrow corridors of the university's library that she couldn't see anything in front of her. She didn't need __to;__ she knew exactly where she needed to go._

_What she hadn't expected though was that she wasn't the only one carrying too many books around. And just a few feet before she had reached her desk where even more books were waiting for her, she hurtled into someone … she tried to keep her balance and keep the books from falling down, but she didn't manage either and a moment later found herself sitting on the floor, surrounded by books and a young man with __long,__ dark brown hair and the most intense hazel brown eyes she had ever seen sitting across from her on the floor._

_They were both stunned for a second before they jumped up at the same time and started collecting the other's books … which resulted in their heads banging together loudly._

"_Ouch!" They called out in unison and then. "I'm sorry."_

_They both paused and looked at each other startled, then started laughing at the same time. Jade immediately felt attracted to his laughter which sounded so honest and light and was probably the most beautiful laughter she had ever heard. And looking at him she felt like she would drown in his eyes._

"_I'm Sam." He said, holding out his hand for her to take._

"I'm …" 

"_Sam." A familiar voice interrupted her and she turned around to see her sister standing in front of her, smiling at them. "Great, you already met. I guess than I don't need to introduce you two anymore."_

_From that moment on Jade had ignored the way Sam's eyes looked or the way his laughter sounded. She tried her best not to notice how the sound of his voice made her feel all warm inside, no matter what he said. It was easier to not have a real conversation with him, just bickering with him all the time, always disagreeing with everything he said. And he was going along right there with her. That's how they had started the world's longest discussion in the world, starting on the way from the library to a nearby café and lasting for the next one and a half years._

She had ignored his eyes since then but she couldn't anymore.

"Please don't die here, Sam." She whispered. She kept watching him, afraid to take her eyes off him and she noticed how his eyes wandered from hers to the night sky and a moment later a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Beautiful." He mumbled, almost inaudible.

"What?" Jade forced herself to look up herself … and then immediately knew what he had meant.

It had started snowing again and when she looked up, she saw the snowflakes falling down on them from the dark night sky … quiet and peacefully. It was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen … almost. She looked down at Sam again and met his eyes looking at her.

And again she thought she would drown in them.

"Sam …" The words caught in her mouth when she saw Sam's eyelids falling close again. "No, Sam, no, you have to stay awake."

He didn't hear her anymore.

"No, Sam! Sam, wake up! Wake up!" She screamed at him.

The despair threatened to overwhelm her. There was no way Dean would find him here in time when he didn't know where Sam had gone to. And she didn't think Tom would return or even be able to find his way back here. He just wasn't good with orientation.

She wished, _prayed_ that there was some way she could contact Dean, tell him where his brother was. She reached for the phone, but her hand went right through it. "DAMN IT!" She screamed frustrated.

She needed to get back to the house and find a way to contact Dean, to let him know what had happened. But she didn't know how. He hadn't even seen her standing next to the breakfast table when he had shared some of his deepest fears and secrets with her grandmother. He couldn't see her, no one could, except Sam.

And Sam was going to die. And she could do nothing else but stand by and watch him die.

"No. No, no, no, this is not happening." She whispered. She watched Sam's shivering body, his closed eyes, his pale face and his lips, already turning blue again. "No …"

"_I'm sure she will wake up soon. She is just not … not ready yet."_

Her grandmother's words rang in her ears. If she ever had been ready, she was now. If she could return to her body and wake up then … then she could notify Dean. She could tell him what happened, where Sam was and he would save him.

But what if she couldn't remember anything?

Then Sam would be alone.

"_I hate being alone."_

She shook her head. She couldn't stay with him this time. If she did, he would die.

She had to take the risk. There was nothing she could do for him here.

She clenched her hands into fists, and with all her might, she concentrated on her body lying in the hospital a few miles away. She concentrated as hard as she could while at the same time she felt torn apart because she was trying to leave Sam … to leave him behind, all alone. And then she felt something pulling her away … a familiar feeling, the same feeling she had had when she had seen Sam in the burning car, unable to reach him. It felt like her soul was ripped from her, but before she could do anything to stop it, she had the feeling of falling and everything around her turned dark.

And she couldn't hear Sam's breathing anymore.

TBC

**A.N.: ****Thank you to** **HardyGurl94 for beta reading this chapter :) And thank you all for reading and reviewing. It means the world to me, you guys are great :)  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N.: I'm really sorry for the long delay. Real life came in the way again ... too much work, my computer crashed and then I hurt my hand. Lame excuses, I know. I'll try to do better with the next chapter. **

**Thanks to everyone for reading and especially for reviewing this story. Your feedback means the world to me and encourages me to keep writing. You guys are great!!!**

**And a huge Thank you to kaz2y567i for her fantastic beta'ing. Kaz, you made this story so much better!!! Thank you!!! **

* * *

With a gasp Jade's eyes flew open and instead of Sam dying in front of her, she saw nothing but white. She blinked a few times but everything in her field of vision stayed the same.

_Oh god, I'm dead!_

She tried to mouth the words but nothing came out. It was then that she felt something in her mouth ... and going down her throat. To stop the panic welling up in her, she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself – but it only increased her panic when nothing happened. She couldn't breath but at the same time she could feel her chest rise and fall.

_Oh god, oh god, oh god ..._

An alarm was pinging next to her head matching time with her erratic breathing. Trying to focus her thoughts she inhaled deeply, welcoming the sensation of cool air rushing into her body ... but nothing came. Concentrating harder she inhaled only to find that no air was being drawn into her lungs. Her eyes widened in fear and she grasped the blankets as the panic threatened to overwhelm her.

"Ma'am, you have to calm down. You're in a hospital. Let the ventilator breathe for you for now. I'll get a doctor, all right?"

Startled Jade turned her head toward the voice and met the smiling eyes of a young woman. Looking closer she noticed the woman was wearing a nurses uniform and as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings she recognized she was in her hospital room.

She had made it ... she was back in her body.

_Sam.  
_  
She had to help Sam. She forced herself to calm down and did what the nurse had told her – let the ventilator breath for her.

_Oh god, she wasn't breathing on her own! _

She closed her eyes for a moment to force down the rising panic. She needed to stay calm. If not for her sake then for Sam's.

After a moment she opened her eyes again and cast a pleading look at the nurse, her eyes trying to convey what the tube in her mouth prevented her from saying. _I have to help Sam! _

"Don't worry, honey. I'll be right back with the doctor and he will remove the ventilator." The nurse smiled warmly at her and patted her hand before she left.

Jade prayed that she would hurry.

XXXXXXX

"Sammy?" Calling for his brother, Dean burst into Jessica's old bedroom. He had checked the living room first, not really expecting Sam to be there. His little brother was supposed to be sleeping. But when he turned the lights on in his room and found the bed empty, his chest tightened and he felt panic grab his heart. He had known something was badly wrong when he had seen Elizabeth's old car lying in the ditch.

Where the hell was Sam?

"SAM?!"

"Dean?"

Hearing his name, Dean flung around and saw Elizabeth standing in the bedroom doorway, dressed in an old, worn-out bathrobe.

"Where's my brother?" He choked out.

Elizabeth looked at him with sympathy and worry in her eyes. "I don't know. A noise outside woke me up. When I got up to see what had happened, I heard your brother yelling. I couldn't understand what he was saying, and when I came down the front door was open and Sam was gone."

"How long?" Dean inquired.

"Maybe twenty minutes."

Dean nodded – twenty minutes wasn't that long. How far could his brother get in that time? He could hardly walk.

So why the hell had he left in the first place?

"What about Tom? Have you seen him?" He asked anxiously.

"No. He wasn't in the car ..."

"I know." Dean cut her short. He tried to think of what could have happened. If Tom had been pushed off the street – by Lilly's ghost maybe – and he had gotten afraid, what would he have done? Dean had looked for any tracks leading away from the car, but the new snow had covered any footsteps that might have been there. Obviously Tom hadn't run into the house. The woods maybe? There were lots of places to hide.

"Okay, I'll go look for him." He quickly walked back into Sam's room, grabbed a piece of paper from Sam's bag and scribbled down his cell phone number. "Here. Call me if he comes back."

"I will. And Dean ... be careful."

Dean looked at Elizabeth for a moment, his lips tightly pressed together and his eyes full of determination. He flashed her a small smile before he quickly ran down the stairs.

So much for an easy and uncomplicated hunt – he should have known something was wrong. Things were never that easy in their line of work.

He had just made it to the ground floor when the front door flung open and Tom came running in. He was panting heavily and his eyes were wide with fear. He shut the door behind him with a slam and slowly slid down on the floor, his back against the door.

Dean stared at him for a moment, half expecting the door to burst open again and Sam to step in. But Tom stayed where he was, his back against the wall, shoulders slouched and head down. No one followed.

_No Sam!_

"Where's Sam?" Dean asked through clenched teeth. How dare Tom come back here when his little brother was nowhere to be seen?

Tom looked up at Dean and the fear in his eyes was now accompanied by despair. "Oh God." he sobbed and pressed his fists in front of his eyes.

It took all of Dean's willpower to stay calm. His fear for Sam was threatening to overwhelm him. But he couldn't give in to that … not until he had Sam back with him.

"Where. Is. Sam?" repeated Dean, emphasizing each word. He needed Tom's attention and he needed it right now!

The other man took a few breaths and his voice quivered audibly when he finally spoke. "She had him. I … I had the gun and I tried to shoot her but … I missed. God, I missed and then she came after me and Sam was on the ground. He yelled at me to run back at the house and she came after me and I just ran. I ran and … I thought … God!"

Again he clasped his hands to his face, shaking with the realization of what he had done and what he had witnessed.

Dean tried to grasp what he had just heard.

_She had him … Sam was on the ground …  
_  
"You left him?" Dean questioned, hoping for Tom's sake that he had misheard what he had just told him. "He comes looking for you, saves you and you just leave him behind?"

Furiously he grabbed Tom by his collar and hauled him up to his feet. Overcome with fury he slammed him against the wall. "You bastard! If anything happened to my brother, I swear to god…"

"DEAN!"

Elizabeth's voice cut through his anger and his head snapped quickly in her direction. The look in his eyes sent shivers down her spine but Elizabeth held her ground.

"Let go of him, Dean." She spoke in a calm voice. "Screaming at Tom isn't going to help Sam."

Dean looked at her for a moment longer, contemplating what she had said. She was right. Resisting the urge to give Tom one last shove up against the wall, he took a deep breath and released his grip, slightly. This wasn't helping Sam one little bit. He had to get his head into the here and now if he was going to help his brother.

But he wouldn't let Tom get away so easily. Grabbing Tom's collar more tightly again, he pulled him closer and away from the wall. Lifting his curled fist he aimed a quick sharp punch to his face.

Tom was out cold and Dean let him fall to the floor with a loud thunk - satisfied that he had imparted some justice at least ... the Winchester Way.

"Dean!" Elizabeth scolded him sharply.

Dean only shrugged in response, a slight smirk on his face.

_That had felt good, damn good!_

Grabbing the flashlight from off the floor, he passed Elizabeth. Gripping it tightly he made his way out, not giving her a second glance. His thoughts and actions were focused on one thing only.

He had wasted enough time … he needed to find Sam.

XXXXXXX

"Ah, damn it!"

Frustrated, Dean slammed his fist into the nearest tree. He had been running through the woods for at least twenty minutes now and still there was no sign of Sam. He wasn't answering his cell phone and no matter how loud Dean was calling his name, there was no response.

When he had found footsteps in the snow, already half covered from the fresh snowfall, but still visibly, he had thanked every god in existence that at least a few tracks of his brother had been saved. But it had only taken him a few minutes to realize that those had been his own footsteps … which had lead him to punch the tree in frustration.

He was running in circles and was no closer to finding Sam than when he had left the house.

"SAM?!" He shouted again as loud as he could, the echo reverberating off the dense foliage as if mocking him.

Again the only response he received was silence.

"Come on, Sammy, where are you?" He sighed, his voice laden with concern and worry.

The harsh ring of his cell phone broke the silence. Startled he pulled it out of his jacket and stared at the screen … it showed an unidentified caller ID.

Maybe Sam had made it back to the house and was already safe and warm?

Quickly he snapped his phone open. "Sam, is that you?"

"Dean …" The voice was hoarse and quickly followed by several coughs.

"Who is this?" Dean asked anxiously. He didn't have time for any phone chats right now. He needed to find Sam!

"Dean, it's me. Jade." The words were followed by another coughing fit.

Dean stared at the phone in his hands as if it had just grown a head. "Jade?"

"I'm … I'm back."

Hearing her take a few deep breaths, he waited for her to compose herself. His patience was wearing thin and if it wasn't for her apparently just coming out of a coma and having difficulties in breathing, he would've jumped down her throat right away with questions about the whereabouts of Sam. Maybe she knew something ... anything that would lead him to his brother.

So he waited ... thankful that apparently the whole 'Invisible Jade' story was true and not just something Sam had hallucinated due to a head injury.

"Dean, you have to find Sam!" Jade forced out, her voice still rough.

"I know." Dean growled. Leave it to the former spirit to state the obvious.

"We ran for about ten minutes heading north of the house. There …" She abruptly stopped, another coughing fit halting her words. "Damn it!" She rasped into the phone.

Dean smiled when he heard Jade punch something on the other end of the phone. He could relate to that … punching something – or someone – always helped letting out his frustration….._The Winchester Way._

_His way, his father's way ... but never Sam's. _

His smile faded quickly as thoughts of his missing brother and what danger he could be in re-surfaced. Mentally urging Jade to continue, he waited.

He didn't have to wait long.

"There was a creek … just stay on the right side of it. Sam's phone was lying only a few feet away from him. If you keep calling him, then … then you should hear it ringing."

Dean kicked himself mentally. The phone - how stupid was he not to think of that himself? He had only let it ring a few times to check if Sam would finally answer it, but it had never occurred to him that the ringing tone might lead him to his brother. A great hunter he was.

"Dean, he … he was hardly conscious. You have to hurry!"

Dean didn't need to be told twice. Combined with the urgency in Jade's voice and the thought of Sam lying unconscious in the snow all this time, propelled him into action.

_It might already be too late._

"No." Dean whispered as he ended Jade's call and speed dialed his brother's number. He couldn't be late. He couldn't afford to be late. Being late would mean letting down Sam ... and that was not an option. It never would be as far as Sam was concerned.

Focusing on Sam's ringing tone, he walked into the forest heading in the direction that Jade had given him, hoping that he hadn't already walked past his brother without seeing him.

Silently praying that he wasn't too late.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**A.N.: Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews. I'm sorry I didn't have the time to reply to them personally this time. It's almost midnight here and I really, really need to get to bed. sammygirl1963, meilinglovesshaoran, Ghostwriter, Julie, ziggy.uk, anfi, Nelle07, roxy071288 ... thank you for your feedback. It's very, very much appreciated and it always makes me more than happy to see a review alert in my email account :) **

**A huge thank you to Kaz for her fantastic beta'ing. **

**And thank you all for reading :) **

**Now on with the story ...**

* * *

Dean was close to a full-scale panic. He still hadn't found Sam. After what felt like a lifetime of living in his own personal hell, he suddenly heard a faint ringing somewhere is the distance. Like a cell phone.

_Sam's cell phone!_

Running headlong into the forest he listened for the faint tone, the source ever eluding him no matter which direction he took in pursuit of it. No matter how fast he ran, he just didn't get any closer. And this frigging ringing tone was driving him crazy. As soon as Sam was feeling better, he would make him change that tone!

But first he had to find him!

"Sam!" He shouted into the wilderness.

Where the hell was he?

Dean wished he hadn't salt and burned Lilly's ghost already. He would have liked nothing better than to have brought her back and then kill her with his own hands. It wouldn't do much good in the long run but it would make him feel a hell of a lot better.

"Sam!" He yelled again, his panicked voiced reverberating off the trees.

When this was over, he would never let Sam out of his sight again. The kid couldn't walk three feet alone without getting into trouble. First the car accident and now this. Why was it that his little brother had to attract every frigging supernatural thing to attack him?

"SAM!"

When Dean finally did find his brother, he froze in his tracks. He was confronted with a sight that he hadn't prepared himself for. Sam was lying motionless on the ground, his body partially covered by a layer of snow. His left arm lay outstretched as if trying to reach for something, but Dean couldn't force his eyes away from his brother to see what that might have been. His whole world just seemed to stop and for one moment, one second that felt like eternity, Dean thought his little brother was dead.

"_Watch out for Sammy."_

Dean had followed his father's order all his life. He had vowed to protect Sam. God, he had screwed up before, but this ... this was his biggest failure ever.

He had let his father down. He had let Sammy down.

"No." It was the faintest of whispers. But it was full of the determination that made out Dean Winchester, big brother of Sam Winchester.

Dean had done a lot of stupid things in his life. Letting his brother down wasn't one of them. Would never be one of them. Not once! So Sam couldn't be dead. He just couldn't.

Pushing his fear and panic aside, Dean rushed to Sam's side. When he felt for a pulse, he was shocked by how cold his brother was. There didn't seem to be any heat left in him. But there was a pulse. It was slow and faint but Sam's heart was beating.

Sam was still alive!

"Sammy?" Dean gently shook his brother's shoulder as he kept calling his name. "Sammy, wake up. God, please ... Come on dude. Who is going to chew my ass now if you don't wake up?"

Ignoring his own shivering and pushing down his fear once again, Dean inspected his brother's injuries. There was a new gash on his forehead; it had stopped bleeding and didn't look too deep. But any new wound on his little brother was one wound too much. He couldn't find any other new, obvious injuries. There could be more but he didn't want to remove Sam's clothing out here in the cold. That would have to wait until they were back at Elizabeth's house.

"Okay, kiddo, you better help me out here because I don't want to drag your sorry ass all the way back." Dean said quietly, hoping to get some kind of response from his brother.

But Sam stayed quiet.

"Okay, fine, let's go." The second Dean had lifted Sam's arm to put it around his shoulder, he felt shivers running through his brother's body.

"Sam?" He started patting Sam's arm and cheeks, repeating his name as he did so until he finally got a reaction from his brother.

Slowly Sam's eyes slid open and glassy, confused eyes met the older hunter. A wave of relief washed over Dean. Sam was alive and he was looking at him. He still wasn't safe ... but it was a start.

"Hey kiddo. About time you wake up." Dean said in a soft voice.

"D-Dean?" Sam tried to lift his head, but he was too weak and after several moments of struggling he gave up and let his head rest on the ground.

"I'm here, Sammy. Just stay awake for me, all right? I'll get you back to the house." With that Dean put Sam's arm around his shoulder again and lifted him up from the ground. He flinched when Sam winced in pain at the movement. Dean didn't even want to think about what this encounter with Lilly's spirit had done to Sam's already existing injuries. Slowly and carefully he pulled his brother up into a near standing position, supporting most of Sam's weight.

"Just concentrate on putting one food in front of the other, okay Sammy?" Dean glanced at his brother worried and concerned that Sam would collapse any moment again.

Sam cast a confused look at his brother and their surroundings. "Wh-where are ... are we?"

That question increased Dean's worry immensely. "What's the last you remember?"

Sam's brow furrowed as he tried to answer. When Dean noticed that his shivering had increased, he decided that they had to get out of here real fast. He started walking, dragging Sam with him carefully and taking most of his body weight against his own. After only a few paces he was starting to breath heavily. His brother was like dead weight, hardly able to put one food in front of the other. They slowly stumbled forward. Dean was concentrating so hard on keeping a tight hold on Sam and keeping their balance that he nearly missed Sam's mumbled question.

"Where's Dad?"

Dean's heart nearly stopped at the question. "What?"

Sam blinked in confusion and lifted his head high enough to look at his brother. "Dad ... sh-shouldn't he be ... be here?"

"Sam, Dad is ..." Dean swallowed, trying to come up with an answer to a question that was unanswerable on so many levels that it probably would be easier to explain if God really existed. His Dad _should_ be here ... but he wasn't. Not anymore. And Dean couldn't give his brother a reason for that even if he had wanted to.

Taking a deep breath and organizing his thoughts he decided against giving Sam any kind of answer. Studying his face he noticed again the glazed look in his brother's eyes. He was wondering if it was amnesia or an aftereffect from the concussion he had suffered in the accident. Or something else caused by the spirit. Or maybe hypothermia. Whatever it was, none of it was good for Sam and would not be solved while they were standing out here in the cold. He knew he had to get Sam back to the house and into the warmth. Who knew for how long he had been lying in the cold? If he didn't hurry ...

No, he wouldn't go there ... Sam would be fine. They just needed to make it back to the house.

"Dad is not here at the moment, Sam. It's just us, remember?" Dean hoped that was answer enough for his brother without giving away too much of the actual truth. Their Dad was never with them anymore. He had left them. He had left Dean.

Sam seemed to accept his answer for the moment... or maybe he hadn't even heard the answer. His head was hanging down again, his bangs hanging in front of his eyes. Dean didn't think he was able to see anything ... but maybe that was a good thing. There was nothing but snow and darkness surrounding them. And despite their way of life – or maybe even because of that – Sam had always been afraid of the dark.

"Cold ..." Sam muttered.

"What?" Worried Dean looked at Sam again, straining his ears to hear whatever his kid brother was trying to say. Sam had spoken barely above a whisper.

It took a long moment before Sam found the strength to repeat what he had said. "I'm c-cold ..."

Dean closed his eyes for a second. "I know, Sammy." He swallowed. "Hang on."

Leaning Sam against a tree he quickly pulled his brother's jacket off and discarded it. Then he took off his own leather jacket and draped it around the still shivering shoulders of his brother. He knew full well that it wouldn't do much good ... all of Sam's clothes were drenched from the snow. But whatever warmth his jacket had given Dean, he gladly traded it for his brother's comfort. It was all that he could spare without freezing himself. He would have traded all his clothes, but he needed to stay alert to get his brother into safety. And freezing to death wouldn't help Sam.

Dean immediately started to shiver as the cold, icy air touched his skin. He was only wearing a light shirt from the grave digging ... but he hardly noticed it. All he could think of was that Sam was freezing and hurt and he needed to get him into safety.

The walk back to the house took longer than Dean had thought possible. Sam was hardly able to walk and Dean had to drag him as well as trying to keep them both upright. They both stumbled several times and more than once Dean couldn't stop them from falling on the ground. Each time he was afraid that Sam wouldn't get up again.

But he did. And Dean was both proud of Sam and thankful for their father's training, for even in his confused state Sam's self preservation had kicked in and deep down he must have felt that giving up now wasn't an option.

A wave of relief washed over Dean when he saw the house appearing. With warmth and safety within eyesight, he tried to quicken his steps, feeling the urge to get Sam into safety. But as he half dragged and half carried Sam closer to the house, the more reluctant Sam was to go on.

"Come on, Sammy, we're almost there. Just a few more steps and you can rest." Dean urged his brother to keep walking.

"No ..." Sam had stopped and looked at the house, his eyes filled with fear and confusion. "I ... I w-wanna go home, Dean."

The older Winchester swallowed and he looked at Sam with even more worry. "We are home, Sammy." _We are together._

Sam shook his head and kept staring at Elizabeth's house ... and for a moment Dean thought he saw recognition in his bother's eyes.

"This is were we are staying at the moment. Remember? It's home ... for now."

Dean grabbed Sam's shoulders when he started to sway slightly and his legs threatened to give in. It took all his strength to keep them both upright. He never noticed how numb his whole body was starting to feel as the bitter cold seeped through him.

"Jess ..."

The longing and painful look in Sam's eyes tore at Dean's heart. "You're staying in her room. Remember?" He swallowed. "She's spent quite a lot of time in that house, Sammy. It's safe."

Without waiting for his brother to reply, he pulled Sam's arm around his shoulder again and started walking. This time Sam followed him without struggling.

XXXXXXX

Sam had forced himself to stay conscious for most of the way. But when they had reached steps leading to a house and Dean whispered to him that they had made it, that he was safe now, he just couldn't hold on anymore and he felt himself starting to slip into the darkness. He vaguely remembered Dean telling him about a home and sleeping in Jess's room. He still had no idea what had happened, but Dean was with him, Dean would protect him, keep him safe and that was all he needed to know.

They had just reached the top of the steps, when Sam collapsed into his brother's arms.

"No, Sammy ..."

Desperately Dean grasped at the boneless figure of his little brother as he slowly fell to the porch. Panic stricken, Dean stared in horror as his now almost numb fingers lost their grip and his brother slid to the hard wooden and cold floor.

It was at that moment that the front door was flung open and the warm light from inside fell on the brothers.

"Thank god you've found him." Elizabeth breathed in relief. Quickly assessing the situation, she was at Sam's side, her shoulders under his arm and helping Dean to lift him into the house. "Let's get you both inside."

Half dragging and carrying they managed to maneuver Sam into the living room and onto the couch. Elizabeth quickly left the room coming back with an armful of blankets to find Dean rearranging Sam's body. Covering the younger Winchester with one of the blankets, she turned to Dean.

"Get your brother some warm clothes, Dean."

Her words didn't pull through to the older Winchester. Elizabeth noted that his hands held tightly onto Sam's as if by his touch alone he could share some of his warmth and by doing so wake Sam up or at least make him better. His eyes never left his brother's pale face as if by looking away he would somehow lose him.

Elizabeth looked at the young man in sympathy. She could only imagine what the last hour had cost him. Gently she squeezed his shoulder. "Dean."

Startled Dean looked up at her as if waking up from a deep dream.

The fear and pain in his eyes broke her heart. He looked like a scared little boy. "Your brother needs warm clothes, Dean." She said softly, her hand motioning for him to let go of Sam.

Dean closed his eyes, only for a second, but when he opened them again, Elizabeth was surprised at the change in them. Gone was the all the fear and the panic that she had seen when she had opened the door to find the brothers nearly collapsing at her doorstep. She saw in his eyes once again the determination, loyalty and love that he had towards his brother. The qualities that Elizabeth had admired in him from the beginning.

Dean nodded and quickly squeezed his brother's hand before he got up. "I'll be right back, Sammy."

As soon as Dean had left the room, Elizabeth carefully began removing Sam's sodden clothes and threw them in the far corner. She noticed how pale his skin was, his blue lips and his quick and shallow breathing. Even in unconsciousness his body shook with tremors as it tried to keep itself warm.

After carefully rubbing him down with a corner of a soft blanket to absorb some of the moisture, she placed it over Sam and enveloped him in it's warmth.

"You should have let me do that."

Startled Elizabeth looked up and met the accusing eyes of Dean Winchester.

"We couldn't waste any more time." She said in a quiet, but firm voice. "Dress your brother, Dean; I'll get the hot-water bottles."

Elizabeth quickly hurried into the kitchen and refilled the already boiled water. She had figured they would need it after Tom's hastily explanation of what had happened.

Elizabeth Beauchamp was nothing if not prepared.

XXXXXXX

Dressed in warm clothes and covered with several blankets and with hot-water bottles applied to his neck, chest and armpits, Sam slept soundly. He had regained consciousness for short periods of time during the last three hours and had been able to swallow the warm tea Elizabeth had prepared for him.

If Sam had not responded to the ministrations of Elizabeth's care, Dean would have called an ambulance. No matter how both of them hated the thought of hospitals, the thought of losing Sam would be worse. Still overwhelmed by his condition and his inability to yet recognize his surroundings or even remember what year they had, Dean hovered nearby waiting. Elizabeth had told him that these symptoms would pass, but that didn't stop Dean from worrying.

He hated seeing Sammy hurt, but seeing him hurt, unconscious and almost half frozen to death was more than he could bare. He felt that he had failed badly to keep him safe. A great big brother he was.Seeing Sam like this and being powerless to help was not a state he was accustomed to. If it hadn't been for the pleading look in his brother's eyes at the mention of going to the hospital, Dean would have carried him there in an instant. Anything would be better than just sitting here and doing nothing. But even though he was still confused as to what had happened and where he was, Sam refused to seek real medical help and he was still capable of swaying his big brother to his will. Dean had never been able to say no to Sam when he looked at him with those damn puppy dog eyes.

They had been back in Elizabeth's house for about three hours and Sam's temperature was slowly climbing. He was still below normal body temperature, but the tremors and shakes had receded and his lips were no longer blue and color had returned to his once pale face. But he had yet to stay awake for any length of time. And Dean really, really needed to have a normal conversation with this brother that lasted longer than just a few minutes. One that didn't include questions after their father or Jess or where the hell they were. This wasn't normal. His geek brother always knew everything. Whenever Dean would awake in a new motel room and couldn't remember which god forsaken town they were in at the time, he could be certain that Sam would not only be able to give him the town's name but also tell him most of the town's history and how many inhabitants it had. Sam always knew everything and seeing him so confused was more than Dean could bare.

He hated that! He really, really hated that!

Feeling the frustration wash over him, he raked his hands through his hair. They should have just went straight to the Reddick Forest. Surely hunting down this Forest Demon would have been a lot less complicated than this family drama Sam's college friend had dragged them in.

"Damn it, Sammy, why can't you just listen to me for once in your life." Dean mumbled, his fingers massaging the bridge above his nose trying to push down the pain building behind his eyes. Being up all night and dragging his half unconscious brother through a snow covered forest while wearing nothing but a light shirt was taking its toll. Dean felt exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to sleep.

"It's Sam."

Those words, whispered in a hoarse, hardly audible voice, displaced any thoughts of sleep and exhaustion Dean had felt just a moment ago. His head jerked up and he met the open, glassy eyes of his kid brother.

"Sam."

"Hey." Sam cleared his throat which sent him into a coughing fit. "Shit." He groaned, holding his ribs.

"Easy, kiddo." Dean tried to steady his brother until the coughing stopped. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just went through a sparring match with a very pissed off spirit. And I think I lost." Miserably Sam rubbed his hands over his face. "My head hurts like hell ... actually, strike that. Everything hurts like hell."

Carefully Dean watched his brother, searching his face to see if he remembered anything. "Well, you won, Sammy. The spirit's history."

Sam let out a small chuckle, then winced as his ribs protested against even the slightest movement. "I didn't win, you did. I just kept Lilly busy."

A relieved smile spread over Dean's features. Sam did remember everything again.

"Next time, Sammy boy, don't try to distract a vengeful spirit by becoming it's punching bag. That's rule No. 2 in the Winchester book." Dean grinned.

"Only No. 2? What's No. 1?" Sam asked, already guessing his brother's answer.

"That's easy. No. 1 ... Always, _always_ listen to your big brother!"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you just keep on telling yourself that." He replied as he pulled his blankets closer. He still felt cold and gave an involuntary shudder.

Seeing his brother shiver, quickly faded the smile from Dean's lips. He had come so close…

"Damn it, Sammy, I mean it. What were you thinking running after them like that? You could have been killed! I told you to wait here for me!" Dean felt the anger well up in him. In his mind he knew that Sam had done the only right thing. He couldn't have sat idly on the couch while this idiot Tom was being hunted by a spirit.

But when it came down to it, in Dean's eyes at least, Sam's life was worth a thousand times that of Tom!

Sam looked at his brother, knowing that no matter what he was going to say now, it wouldn't change a thing. He realized that Dean wasn't really angry with him ... he was only worried. And for that Sam couldn't blame him. Sam himself had been worried to no good knowing that his brother, who had been hunting for more than 10 years, was doing a simple salt and burn on his own, without backup. Knowing that his brother was in some unknown forest with a spirit, being injured and hardly capable of defending himself would have send him over the edge.

Considering that he was glad that Dean still appeared so calm on the outside.

"So, is Lilly really gone?" He changed the subject.

"Yeah, I burned her sorry ass. That bitch isn't going to push anyone of the street ever again."

"What about Tom"?

Dean visibly flinched. "What about him?"

Sam raised a brow. "Did he make it back to the house?"

"Yeah, the jerk came back. He's with Jade now." Dean suddenly remembered that he hadn't told Sam about their former ghostly friend's recovery yet. "She woke up from the coma."

"Good." Sam yawned. "Man, I'm so tired ..."

"Get some sleep. You need it." Dean tugged at the blanket and pulled it up a bit more. "At least when you're asleep I don't have to worry about you running around in the woods."

Sam chuckled slightly and tried to think of a fitting reply, but before he could come up with anything useful, his eyes fell close and he drifted back to sleep.

Feeling content to have his brother near him and apparently out of danger, Dean sank back against the chair and closed his eyes. Another hunt successfully over.

"That is a good advice."

Startled Dean looked up and found Elizabeth standing in the doorway. Questioningly he glanced at her.

"You should get some sleep as well. You need it just as much as Sam. And make sure that you have a hot shower before going to bed. I don't want you to get sick too." She said quietly, watching the young man sympathetically.

"I'm fine." Dean growled.

"Sure you are." Elizabeth said, smiling. "Now get into that shower and then find some warm clothes for yourself afterwards. I'll watch over your brother until you're back. When you're finished, I'll prepare something warm to eat and then you're going to get some sleep."

"I'm fine."

Elizabeth glared at the younger man and Dean inwardly shivered. Her glare would have made the big John Winchester himself pale.

"Fine." He grumbled as he slowly got out of the chair. Leaning over Sam he whispered "I'll be back in a few minutes, Sammy."

On his way out of the living room, he stopped in the doorway. He looked at Elizabeth and his eyes narrowed as if in warning not to let his brother out of her sight before he finally relented and went upstairs to take that hot shower. Come to think of it, he was feeling pretty cold.

Sighing, Elizabeth watched the older Winchester leaving the living room and then turned her eyes to his brother. These two young men had done so much for her and her family ... she wasn't sure how she could ever repay them.

They had given her the chance back to see her family again. How do you repay something like that?

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks to Kaz for her fantastic beta'ing. And thank you all for reading and reviewing :) It is very much appreciated.  
**

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Once again Dean awoke to the smell of coffee.

A small smile crept over his features. He had raised his little brother well. Awake before his big brother and always having the coffee ready. Though this time the coffee smelled extremely better than usual.

With that realization it all came back to him. Sam hadn't made the coffee. He couldn't have because Sam had nearly died yesterday.

With a gasp Dean's eyes snapped open and he searched the room looking for his brother. His hitching breaths evened out when he saw Sam sleeping on the couch next to him, curled into a small ball with the blankets pulled tightly up to his nose. He was still shivering slightly, though he looked a lot better than last night. With relief Dean noticed that more color had returned to his brother's face and all signs of last night's deadly paleness were gone. In fact, his cheeks looked slightly blushed.

"Shit." Dean mumbled and was at Sam's side in a heartbeat. Worried he laid his hand on his brother's forehead. Sam was definitely running a light fever.

"Don't worry, that was to be expected. I've already prepared a tea to lower his temperature."

Startled, Dean looked up and saw Elizabeth standing in the doorway, a steaming cup in her hand. He would have laughed at her words if it hadn't been Sam's well-being they were talking about. Just a few hours ago they had tried to get his temperature up so he wouldn't freeze to death. And now they needed to lower it again.

Sam never did anything by halves.

"The burn on his arm got infected. I've already cleaned and disinfected the wound and changed the bandage. It doesn't look bad, so don't worry." Elizabeth went on to explain. "He also pulled the stitches on his leg. We should take him to a doctor as soon as he's up to it."

"I can stitch him up myself." Dean said, casting an accusing glance at the older woman. "Why didn't you wake me?" If anyone was changing his brother's bandages, it should be him. How could he have slept through all this?

By now Elizabeth was used to receiving that look from Dean whenever his brother was concerned.

"You needed your sleep. You were as exhausted as he was." She said as she handed him the steaming cup. "Here, drink this."

Dean eyed the cup suspiciously. He wasn't too fond of the idea of drinking any of Elizabeth's special tea. But then the aroma of coffee reached his nose and a relieved smile appeared on his lips. "Thanks."

He figured it wouldn't hurt to drink her coffee. After all he couldn't really stay angry at her. She had taken care of Sam.

"Just wake me up next time." He grumbled.

Taking a long sip of his coffee, Dean leaned back against the recliner he had slept in. Despite Elizabeth's best efforts to force him to sleep in a real warm bed, Dean had refused. There was no way he would have let his brother out of his sight. Their walk through the forest the night before had tired him out so much that the thought of having to haul them upstairs to their bedrooms seemed like another marathon. So they had stayed in the living room. Sam warm and comfortable on the couch, Dean just as warm sleeping on the recliner and more than happy enough to be close to his little brother.

"I'm going to prepare you some breakfast. How about scrambled eggs and bacon with toast? Pancakes maybe?" Elizabeth asked.

"Don't spoil him." A hoarse voice replied before Dean could say anything.

The mumbled words coming from somewhere under the blankets made Dean smile. "Right. Mention food and the kid wakes up." He grinned, the relief of having his brother awake once again shining in his eyes.

Yawning Sam crawled out from under the blankets. His shivering increasing immediately as soon as his skin was exposed to the air around him. Groaning he sat up and quickly pulled the blankets tightly around him.

"It's cold." He complained. His eyes jealously roamed over to the steaming cup that was in Dean's hands, suspecting that it was a fresh cup of coffee.

"This is an old house. What did you expect? Besides, it's still morning and the heating probably needs a few more hours before it works." Dean quipped.

Now that Sam was awake and alert, he found it was time to lighten up everyone's mood. The last few hours had been way too serious for his liking.

"Morning?" Elizabeth laughed. "Honey, it's four o'clock in the afternoon. You two slept through most of the day."

"What?" Dean stared at her in disbelief. He never slept through the day.

"Then maybe we should have dinner instead of breakfast." Sam grinned at the wide eyes and open mouth of his brother. Seldom was it for them to lose a day like that. Even when they were up all night hunting, they never slept for very long the next day. Though come to think of it, that might be his fault. His nightmares kept him from getting enough sleep, which as a result kept Dean from sleeping too long as well. It was like an internal alarm. As soon as Sam was awake for longer than an hour, Dean would wake up too.

Only this night Sam didn't have any nightmares. So there was at least one advantage to being thrown around by a spirit. He got a good nights sleep out of it. Not that he felt any more awake because of that though. He was still as tired as if he hadn't slept at all. And he was cold. And hurting ... a lot.

This really wasn't his week.

"Let's start with breakfast first. I'll make you a real dinner later tonight." Elizabeth told them with a warm smile, followed by a sudden stern look directed at Dean. "And no more jokes about this house, young man. It might be old, but it has its charm."

With that she turned and left them alone.

"It's old all right." Dean muttered.

Sam chuckled and pulled his blanket closer. "So, one more successful hunt in our book, huh?"

Dean flinched. "Yeah well, I could do without these kinds of hunts."

Sam knew exactly what kind of hunts his brother meant. The kind where one or both of them got hurt.

"Can I have a sip?" Sam asked after a moment of silence, pointing at Dean's cup of coffee.

"In your dreams." Dean puffed.

Before Sam could respond, Elizabeth re-entered with another cup in her hands. Sam looked up at her hopefully, a satisfied smile on his lips.

His hopes were crushed though when he saw the liquid inside the cup. He crunched his nose at the strange aroma. "What is that?"

"Herbal tea, one of my specialties. It'll help with the fever." Elizabeth explained smiling.

"I don't have a fever." Sam said indignantly. He was freezing all over and he had the distinct memory of lying in the cold snow for a very long time. There was no way that there was enough heat in his body left to ever feel warm again, let alone start a fever.

"Right." Dean snorted. "Have you felt your forehead lately? You're burning up, dude."

"I'm not ..." A sudden sneeze effectively stopped him talking. Surprised, Sam looked at Dean as if he was somehow responsible for his body's obvious betrayal.

The older Winchester only laughed quietly. "Fever and a cold." Grinning he pointed at the cup in his brother's hands. "Cheers."

Making fun of his kid brother had always been the best way for Dean to hide his worry.

Sam shot his brother an annoyed look, then eyed the green-brown liquid in his cup one last time. He inhaled deeply and took a long sip of the tea.

"Tastes good." He choked out moment later, followed by a small cough.

Yep, his brother definitely had a cold, Dean thought quietly. But if that was all he had suffered from his encounter with the spirit, Dean was okay with it. Though he still had to inspect his brother for further injuries. But first he would make him drink that tea.

"You're not getting anything to eat before you empty that cup." Dean grinned at his brother's grimace while drinking Elizabeth's special tea.

Sam narrowed his eyes at this brother in annoyance. But he knew that he didn't have a chance with the two of them ganging up against him, so he obediently took another gulp of the tea.

Smiling Elizabeth left the two brothers to themselves and went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat.

"Did you tell me last night that Jade woke up from the coma?" Sam asked a moment later. He didn't really remember much after Lilly's spirit had attacked him. He wasn't even sure how he had come back to the house. Though he figured he had Dean to thank for that. As always. He vaguely remembered waking up on the couch a few times, but his memory was blurry at best. He remembered bits and pieces of conversations with his brother; something about punching bags and home and Jess. It didn't really make much sense.

"Yeah, she woke up last night. She called me and told me where to find you." Dean said quietly, the memory of his desperate search for Sam still sending shivers down his spine.

"Really?" Sam asked surprised. "Well, she chose a good time to find her way back to her body. How'd she do it?"

"How should I know? I was busy saving your sorry ass, Sammy boy. Again." Dean added pointedly. Inwardly he had his own theory. In his opinion it wasn't a coincidence that Jade's spirit had returned to her body in time to save Sam. And the more he thought about it, it would explain why her spirit had left her body in the first place. She had seen Sam in the burning car, she hadn't been able to help him because of her injuries, so her spirit had left her body to help him. Too bad though that as a spirit she hadn't really been able to do much for him either.

"Well, I'm just glad she's okay." Sam said quietly. He didn't think that he could have bared to loose another member of the Moore family.

_Especially not Jade. _

Sam's still hoarse voice had been barely audible and Dean wasn't sure if he had even meant to say it out loud. A shadow had fallen across his face and Dean was fairly sure what his brother was thinking about. Jess ... it always came back to Jess.

Dean couldn't bring her back, though he wished more than anything that he could. But at least here, in her grandmother's house, he could bring Sam closer to her. At least a little bit.

"How about I help you upstairs after our breakfast? I think you could use a hot shower and your bed is probably a lot more comfortable than that couch." Dean said quietly.

"Sounds good." Sam smiled and pulled his blanket a bit tighter around him. His shivering had increased despite the tea and a long, hot shower sounded like heaven right about now.

"Drink faster before you spill it all on you. I'm not looking forward to dressing you again." Dean ordered him, seeing how Sam was barely able to hold his cup still. The worry in his voice betrayed his teasing words.

"When have you ..." Sam looked down at the clothes he was wearing and for the first time noticed that those weren't the clothes he had worn last night. "Oh. Thanks." He swallowed, slightly embarrassed.

"No need to thank me." Dean said, staring awkwardly at his coffee. A moment later he looked back up with a wide grin. "Granny would have kicked us both out if you would have soaked that medieval couch of hers with your wet clothes."

"She's going to kick us out if you continue to call her Granny." Sam smirked.

"She's going to kick us out if you infect her with that cold of yours. So keep your frigging germs to yourself."

"She's going to kick us out if you don't be careful with your language."

"She's going to ..."

They were playing there old childhood game, invented during a very long and rainy day while staying with Bobby Singer who, after listening to them list reasons for why he would kick them out for two hours, had sworn never to let the Winchesters in his house again (one of the few promises he hadn't held).

There childish bickering probably would have gone on forever, if Elizabeth hadn't returned with their 'breakfast'.

"I hope you like the pancakes. It's a special recipe ... it was Jess' favorite." She said smiling.

Sam's own smile widened immediately at her words. His eyes lit up and Dean thought that maybe he didn't even have to bring Sam to Jess' old room to bring them closer.

"Jess always made pancakes at least once a month. She said she always used her grandmother's recipe, but it just never tasted the same. She always complained about that but she still made them again." Sam told them, smiling and looking somehow happy and sad at the same time. Dean felt as if he could see a glimpse of the old Sam in his brother's eyes. The Sam who had been to college and lived the life he had always wanted and who was in love and truly happy for the first time in his life.

And he wished he could have shared that happy time with his little brother.

They talked more about the old times, Sam and Elizabeth sharing their memories of Jessica and Dean listening to them, curious to learn more about the time Sam had spend in Stanford and grateful that Elizabeth had put that smile on his brother's lips and actually made him laugh every now and then. It was always followed by coughing and Dean could see that his brother was in pain during those fits, but it was a physical pain only. For the first time, Sam was able to talk about Jessica without that emotional pain in his eyes.

And Dean thought that with all they had gone through during these last few days, that maybe it had been worth it all to see his brother laugh like that again.

XXXXXXX

They had talked for a long time. Even though Sam was close to falling asleep and Elizabeth kept insisting that he needed that hot shower and more rest in a real bed, they both seemed reluctant to end their conversation. In the end it was Dean who, even though he enjoyed seeing his brother so relaxed, re-affirmed Elizabeth's mothering instincts when he pointed out that Sam looked really exhausted and his cough was sounding worse than before. That, plus the fact that now Sam's voice was sounding so hoarse that he was barely talking above a whisper made Elizabeth practically push them out of the living room and up the stairs.

When they had made it to the first floor, Sam looked pale once again and sweat forming on his forehead. His shivering had increased and Dean wasn't sure if that was just from being cold or from exhaustion.

Sam felt as if he had just climbed Mount Everest. Breathing became quite difficult and painful and he didn't think he could take one more step. But staying in the corridor and collapsing in his brother's arms, which he knew would happen if he didn't sit down soon , wasn't really an option. So after trying to catch his breath for a few moments, he forced himself to walk the last few steps to his room. As soon as Dean helped him to his bed, Sam collapsed on the blankets. He didn't even bother to pull up his legs, he just stayed where he was. Moving hurt and surely no one would mind if his legs weren't on the bed.

No one except his brother, who without saying anything carefully grasped Sam's legs and laid them on the bed. Sam immediately curled up into a small ball, trying to force down the shivers and trying to get warm again.

"I take it you won't take that shower now?" Dean asked.

"Jus' give me a sec." Sam mumbled, his eyes still closed. A second later he was deep asleep.

Smiling at his sleeping brother, Dean placed a blanket over him. Then he sat down on the floor next to the bed. He watched his brother closely, looking for any signs of distress. The last thing Sam needed now was another nightmare. But Sam continued to sleep peacefully. Watching the steady rise and fall of his brothers' breathing, Dean felt the last vestiges of tension leave his body.

They were safe. Sam was out of danger. Recovering. In a few days, or weeks more likely, he would be as good as new. He had even laughed today, a real laugh, not that forced laughter he had used for the past few weeks and that was probably only for Dean's sake, to put him at ease.

Dean relaxed against the wall, his left shoulder still resting against the edge of the bed. He could feel the tiredness creeping up on him. His first instinct was to fight to stay awake. He needed to watch out for Sam.

But for the first time in a long while Dean didn't feel this itching in his gut that he had to be on alert 24 hours a day. Being in this house, within Elizabeth's protective circle, and under her care made him feel safe.

_Almost like being home._

He cast another glance at Sam. No signs of a nightmare.

They were safe.

And Dean allowed himself to close his eyes at long last and followed his brother into sleep within seconds.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks to Kaz2y567i for her fantastic beta'ing. And thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing this story :) **

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Sam slept through most of next two days. Dean remained at his side for most of the first day, always at the ready to get his kid brother whatever he needed. He was checking Sam's temperature regularly, satisfied that it hadn't risen. By the end of the first day after Sam's second encounter with Lily's spirit, his temperature was back to normal. He still had a cold though and with every cough his ribs screamed in protest. After one really bad coughing fit that had brought tears to his eyes from the pain and had left him breathless for several minutes, Sam had finally relented and took stronger pain medication. The coughing didn't hurt so much after that and Sam was able to get the rest he needed. Elizabeth's special herbal tea was doing the rest and on the third day Sam was already feeling much better.

Dean reluctantly left Sam's side once his fever was gone. He knew that there wasn't anything more that he could do for him now. So, he played the waiting game and went to find Elizabeth. They sat together for several hours and she told him a lot about her uncle and what she knew about his hunts. In return Dean shared some of his own hunting stories as well.

He insisted on paying for their stay, but Elizabeth refused to take any money. Feeling that he had to in someway repay her, Dean decided on making some long overdue repairs on the house. He wanted to do some work on the roof as well as it was in desperate need of repair, but with the weather there was just no chance to get it done. It would have to wait until summer. Dean thought that maybe they could come back for it then.

At the end of the second day, Dean had made himself comfortable on the living room couch. He was enjoying a beer and was flipping through the many TV channels when Elizabeth sat down next to him with a small box in her hands.

"I have something for you." She said quietly. "It's more for Sam, actually. I thought he might like to have these. Maybe you could give them to him when the time is right."

"What is it?" Dean asked curiously.

With a sad smile, Elizabeth opened the box and pulled out a stack of letters. "Jessica wrote these. She talks a lot about Sam and their time together in the letters. I kept reading them over and over through the years. For a long time they were my only connection to my family. But thanks to you and your brother I can finally visit them again. I don't need to live in the past anymore." She laughed quietly. "Well, if they still want to see me that is."

"I'm sure they'll be more than happy to have you back in their lives." Dean assured her smiling. "And ... you don't have to give us anything. You have done enough for us already."

"Just take them, Dean. Sam would want them. And maybe you find them interesting too." She winked at him. "This is the only way for me to thank you." She added earnestly.

She placed the box in Dean's hands and he accepted it hesitantly. "Thanks."

"No, thank you." Elizabeth gave his hand a short squeeze and then got up to leave the room. "Good night, Dean."

"Good night."

Thoughtfully Dean stared at the letters. Jess' letters. Jess' words talking about Sam. About Sam in Stanford. About the four years in his brother's life he knew almost nothing about. Except that it was probably the happiest time in Sam's life.

Slowly Dean took out the letters. He noticed that Elizabeth had already sorted them by date – starting with the oldest one. He hesitated a moment; he felt as if he was invading his brother's privacy. But Sam was still refusing to talk about Jess and maybe knowing more about their time together in Stanford might help him to get Sam to open up. To fix what was bothering him and make life easier for him again.

After all, that's what big brothers were for, right?

Taking a deep breath, Dean opened the first letter.

_Dear Granny,_

_today I helped Jade move into her dorm at Stanford. I can't believe she is really moving out. Even though it is only a one hour drive, I already miss her. I can't wait to get to Stanford myself. Of course I'm not accepted there yet, I still need to write my application, but I'm positive I will get in. If Jade could do it, so can I, right? We are already making plans to get an apartment once I move there too._

_And Grams, I met someone there. Well, "met" might be saying a bit too much. We just talked for a few minutes. I was carrying a few of Jade's boxes (you wouldn't believe all the stuff she's taking with her, even Dodi, her stuffed rabbit, remember?). Anyway, I was carrying those boxes and there he was. He was just standing in front of the entrance, staring at the buildings. I'm not really sure why, but I stopped next to him and couldn't help myself to follow his line of sight. We were both standing there, staring … and I said something stupid like "It looks huge, doesn't it?" And he looked down at me (he's almost a head taller than me) and he had the cutest, most intense brown eyes I have ever seen. He said "Yes" and it was so quiet and soft. He looked a bit scared, but also totally determined and happy to be there. Is that making any sense? Then his eyes fell on the boxes and he offered to help, but Brian, Jade's stupid boyfriend, showed up and practically pushed him away. I hate that jerk. I really can't see what Jade sees in him. Well, the guy excused himself and left. I don't think I'll ever forget those eyes. Grams, they were perfect. I felt like I could lose myself in them. Am I sounding like a love-sick teenager now? I can hear you laughing out loud while reading this. Maybe I see him again when I start at Stanford next year, who knows? And with any luck he's still single then (this is me hoping that he doesn't already have a girlfriend)._

_Okay, enough boy talk. Back to Jade's first day at Stanford …_

Dean only skimmed through the next pages. Sam's name didn't turn up again or any mention of a guy fitting his brother's description. Dean was sure it was him Jessica had written about. Why else would Elizabeth had given him the letter? He looked a the pages in his hand for a moment. Jessica had said that Sam had looked scared. Determined and happy Dean would have expected, but scared? He sure hadn't looked scared when he had left. Only angry. And maybe disappointed that Dean hadn't sided with him against their Dad as usual. But how the hell could he have sided with him? Sam wanted to leave them! The one thing Dean had always been afraid of and Sam wanted him to give his blessings. And Dean had refused. Of course he had.

And because of that he had only met with his little brother once in four years.

With a pang of guilt Dean remembered the look in Sam's eyes when Dean had told him that he agreed with their father. That Sam couldn't go to College. He had looked hurt and disappointed. And scared. The realization hit Dean like a stroke. Sam had been scared. Of course he had been. For 18 years he had Dean and his father to look after him. And for the first time he was going to be on his own. He wouldn't even have the support of his big brother. No one to fall back on. No one to ask for help should anything happen.

No one to call to tell that he had met the woman of his dreams.

Sighing Dean put the letter aside. It wasn't the first time that he regretted not having supported Sam back then. But it was the first time that he admitted to himself that not only Sam had been wrong. He had too. And so had his father.

Thinking of his father, Dean remembered the phone call he had made from the hospital. He hadn't called again to tell him that Sam was all right. He felt the anger well up in him at the thought that this father hadn't even bothered to call back to ask for himself how his son was doing. If Sam was even still alive. Dean hadn't expected him to come here, but he could have at least call back. For a moment he thought bitterly that he shouldn't even bother to pick up the phone again to give his Dad the news about Sam's well-being.

But the moment passed and Dean made the call anyway. Maybe his father just hadn't listened to the message yet. And Dean didn't want to worry him any more than necessary. Wherever his father was, he needed to concentrate on the job and not think about his children.

If he thought about them at all.

Pushing that thought away, Dean hit the speed dial and listened to his father's voicemail – the same he had heard again and again during the hundreds of times he had tried to reach him the past few weeks.

"Dad, hi, it's Dean. Again. Um, I just … I'm just calling to let you know that Sam is out of hospital and he's fine." He paused a moment and considered telling his father about the spirit and Sam's new injuries, the hypothermia and then the fever. But in the end, he didn't think this information was important for his father right now. Sam was fine. That was all he needed to know. "Okay, um, I hope you're all right. Call me. Bye."

Dean swallowed hard and put the phone down. He wasn't sure what he had expected. He knew his father didn't answer his phone anymore. But still, every time he tried, he wished that …

Taking a deep breath, Dean picked up the next letter. It was dated two years later. Jessica must have been to Stanford for about a year by then.

And Sam had been gone for two.

_Dear Grandma,_

_I still love Stanford. I'm sorry I haven't written for so long. The last year has been so busy, I never thought College life could be so exhausting. But I'm doing great, I'm satisfied with my grades and Jade and I just moved into an apartment. She finally broke up with Brian. I'm not sure what happened, she won't talk about it, but he must have hurt her badly. She's been crying for a week, didn't want to leave her room and I hardly got her to answer her phone. But she's feeling better now and when I reminded her of getting the apartment, she was all for it. So, Jade and I are roommates again. And no, we haven't killed each other yet. We are actually getting along great._

_Grams, do you remember when I told you about this guy I met when Jade moved to Stanford? I can still hardly believe it, but I met him again. And he's still single!!! I was standing behind him in the queue at the coffee shop (he's even more addicted to coffee than Jade … I hadn't thought that was possible). I was trying to think about something smart to say, but somehow I lost my brain on the way. All I could come up with was "So, does it still look huge?"_

_I really need to come up with a better pick up line. He turned around and looked at me as if I had lost my mind. But then something in his eyes (those deep, wonderful brown eyes) changed and he remembered me. He remembered me!!!!! I couldn't believe my luck. He shook his head and said it looked pretty much normal by now, but still amazing. And I knew what he meant because I feel the same way. He invited me for a coffee and we talked for hours. They had to kick us out of the coffee shop when they closed. I didn't even notice how the time flew by. And I think he felt the same way because when he looked at his watch he looked as surprised as I felt._

_So far we went on three dates. Do you want more information? I know you do. Okay, his name is Sam Winchester and he is 19 years old. He said he was born in Kansas, but he and his family moved around a lot because of his father's work. His mother died when he was still a baby. Can you believe that? It's so sad. He doesn't even remember her. He has an older brother who he apparently worships. His eyes light up every time he talks about him. If you ask Sam, his brother is some kind of superhero._

Dean stopped reading for a moment and stared at the words before him. If he hadn't read it he wouldn't have believed it. Sam still worshiped him. Two years after their fight over his decision to go to Stanford, Sam had still thought of him as his big brother who could turn the world for him if necessary. Dean swallowed. He had met up with Sam about two years after he had left and Sam had seemed … distant. Uncomfortable. As if he didn't want him around.

That had hurt and Dean had made sure not to show up in Stanford again. Or at least not to let Sam know that he was around. Whenever a hunt took him close to Stanford he drove there to see for himself that his little brother was still there.

It had never occurred to him that Sam might have felt as insecure as Dean had at the time. Maybe his little brother had still been scared.

Dean pushed down the feelings of regret and continued reading Jess' letter.

_Sam is taller than me, a lot taller which means I have to look up at him pretty much all the time. But I don't mind that at all. I like it actually. I feel safe at his side. And when he puts his arm around me … oh Grams, it's just like you always said it was with you and Grandpa. I feel like I'm in heaven._

_He's shy too. Very shy. It was actually me who had to make the first step. He was walking me home after our second date (he didn't even try to kiss me on the first one, can you imagine? I was relieved, actually, because I had been so nervous about it; all guys want to kiss on the first date, but … I don't know, I liked it that he didn't try anything). So, he walked me home and it was the perfect night. We went to a nice little restaurant and afterwards for a walk through the park. I didn't want the night to end, but when we reached the door to my apartment, I knew he would say his goodbye and leave. He looked at me a bit nervously (I'm pretty sure he wanted to kiss me, but wasn't sure I wanted to either, he's so cute) and then I just went ahead and kissed him. It felt so right, Grams, not at all like with all the other guys I've kissed before (it wasn't really that many, I promise). But with Sam … Grams, I think I'm falling in love with him. Is that even possible in such a short time?_

_I have to go, Sam will be here shortly and I still need to get dressed._

_I miss you, Grams. And I know I promised not to ask anymore, but can't I come and visit you? I could bring Sam and you could get to know him. I'm sure you would like him._

_Love,_

_Jess_

Dean finished the letter, tears forming in his eyes. Must have been the dry air or something. He swallowed and tried to imagine Sam and Jess together. Just thinking about how happy his brother must have been with her, only to lose her in such a way, hurt. He couldn't even imagine how much it must hurt to remember it.

Or maybe he could. He might not remember much, but he had spent four years with his mother before this thing had taken her. A small, bitter chuckle escaped his lips. It seemed that he and Sam were both granted four years of happiness each, but more was apparently too much to ask.

But damn it, he wanted more for Sam!

He opened the next letter and curiously read on.

_Dear Grandma,_

_We did it. Sam and I have moved in together. We've been a couple for a little bit over half a year now and it feels right. Sam was still living in this shabby thing his landlord calls an apartment. He's working hard to pay the rent (did I tell you that he has a full ride for Stanford? He's so smart!)j and he's not getting any financial support from his father. I don't know if that's because his father doesn't earn enough or they had some kind of fallout. Sam doesn't talk much about him. As far as I know he's not talking with him either. He didn't get one call from his father for his 20th birthday. I should know, I spent the whole day with him. Dean, that's his older brother, he called. They talked for maybe two minutes but after they had finished, Sam was wearing a wide grin for the rest of the day. _

_Mom invited us for dinner last weekend. It was the first time Mom and Dad had met him. Thank god Jade already knew him, that made it easier. Not that they are getting along very well. They're not really fighting, but they argue all the time!!! It doesn't matter what subject we're talking about, they always have a different opinion. It's driving me crazy. And the weird thing is, despite all the arguing, they seem to like each other. It's hard to explain, but I'm glad about it anyway. Mom and Dad liked Sam from the start (unlike Brian, the jerk … they both hated him). I had told Mom that Sam had lost his mother when he was only six months old and she hovered over him as if she wanted to make up for those missing years. Sam looked pretty uncomfortable most of the time, but he was so sweet about it. He was smiling the whole time while Mom gave him one piece of cake after the next and the biggest steak (Dad wasn't too fond of this as you can imagine) and so on. And when Dad found out that Sam knew how to handle a hammer, he hired him for his newest hobby – building a shed in the garden. He had planned this for some time now and Mom was worried he might get himself killed with it. She's relieved that Sam has agreed to help him. And I'm glad that they are all getting along so well. If Sam still hasn't left me even after meeting my family, I think we might have a long future ahead of us._

_Uncle Jerry came visiting me last month. Did you know he was on a cruise?_

Dean quickly skimmed the rest of the pages, but Jess didn't mention Sam again. And he wasn't really interested in Uncle Jerry's cruise or Aunt Emma's new living accommodations. He went back to the part with Sam's birthday. He had been nervous to make that call. He wasn't sure if Sam had even wanted to talk to him. And it was true, they hadn't talked long. Only a short hello, I hope everything's all right, do you need something and Happy Birthday, Sammy. He had wanted to add I miss you, but had stopped himself before the words had left his mouth.

Dean picked up the next letters. One after the other he learned about Sam's and Jess first months in the new apartment, how comfortable they felt together and how wonderful it was to live with his brother. He read about how great Sam was doing in College, how he was always one of the best. Not that Dean had ever doubted that. Sam was the smartest person he knew. Definitely smarter than Dean or their Dad, though of course that would never be admitted out loud. When he read about a car accident Sam had been in, he nearly freaked out. Jess wrote in every detail (and with the panic and fear she must have felt then clearly evident in her words) how Sam had been hit by a drunk driver and had been admitted to hospital. He had been unconscious for hours, had a broken leg, bruised ribs, a sprained wrist and a concussion. Dean stared in horror at Jess' description. Sam had been hurt. His little brother had been in hospital and he hadn't known anything about it. God, Sam could have died and it might have taken him months to find out.

With a shaking hand Dean put the letter down. He swallowed hard and cursed the drunken bastard who had hit his brother. Should he ever get his hands on him … maybe he should drive back to Palo Alto and get the police report. The guy's name should be in it. When Dean would be finished with him, he wouldn't dare to ever touch a sip of alcohol, let alone get behind the wheel of a car again.

But when Dean read on he learnt that Sam had refused to press charges, so there probably wouldn't even be a report. He and Sam had been drilled to keep the police out of their personal business and Sam had followed that rule even away from them.

Dean read until late at night and when he was done, he was content that he had learnt something about Sam's time away. He could understand why his brother had been reluctant to give all that up. And now more than ever Dean wished he could give him all that back.

When he was done, Dean carefully placed the letters back in the box. He would give them to Sam when the time was right.

Quietly Dean stepped into Sam's room. He put the box in his duffel bag and made himself comfortable to spend another night on the couch.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks to kaz2y567i for her fantastic beta'ing. All mistakes are mine. **

**And thank you all for reading this story and especially to those of you who took the time to leave a review. Your words mean a lot to me and they are very much appreciated :o)**

* * *

As soon as Sam was feeling strong enough, he insisted on visiting Jade in the hospital. Dean refused at first to let him leave the house, but finally relented after checking his brother's temperature for the fifth time – the result being always the same. The fever was gone, so Dean offered to drive them to the hospital the next day.

When Sam threatened to take Elizabeth's car and drive himself, Dean jumped up from the couch, snatched the car keys from Sam, threw them onto the coffee table and drove Sam himself the same day. There was no way he would let Sam drive a car that would explode if you didn't keep your eyes on the temperature. And who knew what kind of damage the car had suffered when it had landed in the ditch? One accident per week was enough.

A short while later Sam and Dean found themselves walking through the County Hospital's corridors. Dean was sending every nurse and doctor who dared to look at his brother threatening glares. Sam still looked more like he should be a patient in this hospital instead of just a visitor and Dean didn't want to risk any of them trying to admit his brother.

Five doctors and 10 nurses later they had finally reached Jade's room. Elizabeth had told them her new room number after she had been released from ICU. Sam raised his hand, taking a deep breath before he knocked at the door. Dean was wondering what was going through his brother's head. Sure, it was strange seeing Jade again for the first time after she had been a ghost. Or, in Dean's case, for the first time ever. But it wasn't really something that bothered him, so he was pretty sure there had to be more.

"Sam. Dean." Jade beamed with joy at seeing the brothers enter.

Dean was pretty sure most of this joy was directed at his brother, judging by the look she sent Sam, but he took what he could get. He was just about to say hello when his eyes fell on another visitor in the room.

Tom.

He narrowed his eyes at the other man, his glare indicating that he better not try to talk to him.

"Hey, Jade, good to see you being all you again." Sam grinned and carefully bend down to gave her a hug. He hesitated a moment before he actually put his arms around her, but Jade beat him to it and pulled him close to her.

"It's good to see you too, Sam. How are you?" She asked, casting a worried glance at Sam. It was obvious even to her that he was still hurting.

"Asks the one lying in the hospital bed." Sam quipped. "I'm fine."

"Uh huh. Hi Dean. Would you like to tell me how your brother is really doing?" Jade asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sam only rolled his eyes and took a seat on a chair next to Jade's bed.

Dean cleared his throat and opened his mouth to reply, but Sam was faster.

"If you ask my brother, I should spend the next 10 years lying still in a bed and let my temperature be checked every five minutes. He is not the best person to ask about this, trust me."

"Hey, that's not true." Dean said offended. "That's the thanks you get for tending your little brother. Ungrateful little bitch."

"Jerk."

"Guys." Jade send them a glare that Dean swore she had inherited from her grandmother.

He shrugged it off and took the only other free chair in the room.

A cough from the back of the room turned everybody's attention on Tom. He suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Uh hi … Sam. I'm glad you're all right." Tom swallowed and looked somewhat guilty at the younger Winchester.

"No thanks to you for that." Dean mumbled, loud enough for everyone, including Tom, to hear.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I … That night ... I panicked. I shouldn't have …"

"It's okay. Really. I told you to get help and you did." Sam gave him a re-assuring smile.

Both Jade and Dean looked at him in surprise.

"Dude, the guy left you for dead there." Dean exclaimed angrily.

"I wasn't dead. And I did tell him to run. There wasn't really anything he could have done. And what good would it have done if Lilly had gotten us both?" Sam pointed out.

"Well, it would have done me a lot of good if I didn't have to search the whole forest for my brother, knowing he's injured and hurt and possibly dead." Dean exclaimed.

"Were you worried?" Sam grinned, knowing his brother would never admit to it.

"What? Worried? About you?" Dean puffed. "Nah, I just didn't want to explain to Dad that his son managed to freeze to death in some nowhere forest after being beaten by a crazy bitch's spirit. You know how he can get."

"Right." Sam still grinned at him, but let the matter drop. Talking about their father still was a delicate subject between the brothers and Sam really didn't want to get into that now. He knew Dean felt the same.

"So, Sam." Jade looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Sam returned the glance with a look of innocence. "What? I told you, I'm fine."

"Except for your concussion, the broken ribs, the infected wound on your leg ..."

"It's not infected anymore and my head stopped hurting yesterday, so I'm pretty sure the concussion is healed." Sam cut into his brother's tirade.

Dean ignored him. "... the first degree burns on your arm, the gash on your head and the several cuts and bruises ... yeah, you're fine."

"I am." Sam insisted. He knew it was a lost cause. He also knew he wasn't fine. He was still hurting all over and his headache wasn't really gone – his head was still throbbing slightly – but he hated to appear weak in front of anyone. Especially his brother. Or Jade. No matter what the circumstances.

"It's not like you needed to go to a hospital, right?" Jade winked at him.

Sam had to smile at the repeat of his own words. He hadn't thought she would remember that. "Right."

"Um, excuse me, you have been in hospital." Dean pointed out. "And you still would be if you hadn't been so stupid to release yourself."

"Like you would have stayed here." Sam said.

"The hell I would. But that's different."

"Why is that different?"

"Because."

"Because? That's not an answer, that's ..."

"Because I'm the older brother. Bitch."

"Jerk."

"Guys."

"Um, does anyone want a coffee?" Tom asked in the silence that had fallen over the room.

Three surprised pair of eyes met Tom. It seemed all three of them had forgotten he was even still here.

"Thanks, sweetie, that would be wonderful." Jade hurried to reply. A warm smile accompanied her words.

"Sweetie?" Dean mouthed in Sam's direction.

Sam only shrugged. He was already used to Jade calling Tom like that.

"Black." Dean said and stared at Tom with narrowed eyes. "And don't even think about asking us for money. You still owe us big time."

"I wasn't going to ..." Tom tried to defend himself, but Sam interrupted him quickly.

"He's just kidding, Tom."

"No, I'm not." Dean grumbled earnestly.

Tom looked from Sam to Dean, uncertain what to do next.

"The coffee, sweetie." Jade told him, still smiling warmly at him, while at the same time sending Dean an annoyed glare.

Dean had no idea how she did that.

"Right. I'll be right back." Tom quickly walked out of the room. Sam was sure he saw relief in his eyes.

"Guys, I'm really grateful for all your help. What you did ... I don't know how to thank you."

"If I would never have to talk to that guy ..." Dean waved at the door that Tom had just disappeared through." ... ever again, that would be thanks enough."

Sam only rolled his eyes and Jade looked at them apologetically.

"Look, I know Tom hasn't made the best impression on you guys ..."

"You think?" Dean cut in.

"Dean."

"He's a nice guy. Really." Jade started again. "He's just ... he's just not the bravest man ever." She admitted quietly.

"Are you happy with him?" Sam had no idea what had made him ask that.

Jade hesitated a moment, then a small smile appeared on her lips. "Yes. I am."

"That's all that matters." Sam replied, smiling.

"Yeah, just make sure to not get stuck with him and an angry spirit in a snow covered forest in the middle of the night." Dean grumbled.

"Would you let it go already?" Sam sighed. "I told him to go."

"So? Don't tell me you really expected him to go and leave you alone with that bitch." Dean objected.

"That's exactly what I expected him to do." Sam replied.

Dean opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He shook his head and let the matter drop. It really was like Sam to send the guy away, even though knowing that he had no chance alone against the spirit, not with the condition he was in anyway. His little brother was a Winchester through and through and not even four years in Standford could have changed that.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Jade asked, effectively changing the subject.

"Well, your grandmother offered us to stay for as long as we like. And ... " Sam cleared his throat. "Well, since I still have some minor injuries ..."

"Minor?" Dean cut in, cocking an eyebrow at his brother.

"We decided to stay for another week or so." Sam finished, ignoring his brother.

"That's great. I'm getting released in a day or two and Grandma already insisted that I'd stay until I was able to drive back on my own." Jade told them, her eyes beaming with joy and excitement. "Not that I'd have a car to drive back in though." She added sighing.

"Yeah, your car looked pretty screwed." Dean said regretfully. From the looks of it, it had been a great car.

"Maybe I can get Dad to pick me up. He's probably going to be excited to be allowed to see his mother again." She shrugged.

Sam looked down at his hands for a moment. The mention of her parents made him slightly uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, he evenutally looked back at Jade again. "How, um, how are your ... your parents?"

Jade smiled at him warmly. Dean had the feeling she understood how much this question had cost his brother. Usually Sam down right refused to talk about anything related to Jessica.

"They're good. Still ... shocked, you know. Because of ... Jess. But ... they have each other. Mom has used all her energy lately to spoil me rotten. Which is nice, in a way, but ... you know."

"Yeah." Sam said quietly.

"They both miss you. Dad finally finished building his shed. It freaked Mom out when he started working on it again and now that it's finished she's forbidding him to enter it before a professional has a look at it. But it made him feel better, you know. I think that's why she never said anything against it at first. Though she did keep the phone close to her at all times in case she needed to call 911." Jade laughed quietly.

Sam couldn't help but to chuckle at the memory of James Moore's attempts to build a shed in his garden. After Sam had agreed to help him, Mr. Moore had broken his arm twice while working on it. Not to forget the dozens of cuts and bruised fingers he suffered from it. Jess' father was a lot of things – a good craftsman wasn't one of them.

"He said more than once how much he had enjoyed working with you, Sam." Jade said quietly after a moment. "Maybe ..."

"I can't."

It broke Dean's heart to see the pain in his brother's eyes at the admission. He knew that Sam wanted nothing more than to get his old life back. But after everything, that was just not possible.

Tom chose that moment to return with the coffee and Dean was actually grateful to the guy for interrupting the awkward silence between them all. Not that he would ever admit that out loud of course.

"Here, coffee for everyone." Tom announced and handed the coffee to all of them.

"Thanks, sweetie." Jade smiled and took a sip of her coffee. Her smile faded immediately and was replaced by a disgusted grimace.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked worried.

"Nothing, honey." Jade forced herself to smile. "It's perfect."

Dean raised an eyebrow when he saw her putting the coffee back on the nightstand.

"You don't like it?" Tom inquired, not willing to give in so fast.

"Well, no. It's good. It's just, that ... you know ... It's stupid, really. But there's no milk in it and ..."

"You forgot her milk?" Sam laughed. "Dude, have you ever seen Jade drink her coffee looking anything but almost white from all the milk she pours in it?"

"Oh ..."

"I don't put that much milk in it. And I do drink coffee without milk occasionally. I'm just not in the mood for it right now."

"Sure." Sam grinned and got up from his chair. "I'll get you a new one."

"Dude, what ..." Dean started, but Sam waved him off.

"I'll be right back. It's just a few steps down the corridor. I think I'm safe."

"Says you." Dean mutttered, not really convinced. Though he had to admit that there really weren't many things that could happen to Sam in a hospital. Except maybe an overachieving nurse or doctor who insisted that Sam should be a patient in here. Which would bring back the police on the plan. And who knew how many half ghosts were running around this hospital that Sam was able to see? Knowing his brother, Sam would try to help all of them.

Dean was close to jumping up and follow his brother outside, when he thought better of it. Sam would never let him live it down. So he waited patiently for Sam to come back. His fingers were tapping nervously on his left leg while he threw angry glares in Tom's direction to distract himself. Seeing the other man squirm under his stares actually was so much fun, that when Sam finally did return, Dean almost wished he would have had a few more minutes time with Tom.

"Here you go." Sam handed Jade the coffee and sat down again.

Sighing with pleasure Jade took her first sip. "Ah, this is perfect."

When she noticed the hurt look in Tom's eyes, she quickly retreated. "Um, I mean, definitely too much milk, Sam." She cast him an accusing look.

"Yeah right." Sam grinned and they shared a knowing look.

If Tom noticed anything of that, he didn't say.

XXXXXXXXX

About an hour later Sam and Dean left to go back to Elizabeth's house. Sam was starting to tire and Dean had run out of insults he could threw against Tom half an hour ago. He had started to simply ignore the other man, but found that it was only half as much fun. It was time to go home.

They were walking over the parking lot towards the Impala, when Dean started talking again. "So, Sam ... your concussion's really gone?"

"I told you so, didn't I?" Sam replied, slightly annoyed.

"Good." Dean smirked and slapped his brother on the back of his head.

Sam was so suprised that he only stared at Dean for a moment. "Ouch!" He finally exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"You know what." Dean replied and kept walking.

"No, I don't."

Taking a deep breath, Dean turned around to his brother. "Next time you're in hospital, you tell me about it."

"What?" Sam stared at his brother in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"No, I don't." Sam shook his head. "Dean, you knew I was in hospital. Hell, you knew even before I did. You were already there when I woke up. You _told_ me I was in hospital."

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again after a moment. Sam had a point. And Dean wasn't ready to tell him about the letters yet. "Well, would you have called me if I hadn't come by the accident site? Because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have known you were injured."

"Of course I would have called you." Sam replied, wondering what his brother's problem was.

"You sure about that?" Dean asked quietly.

"Yes. Dean, what is this about?"

"Nothing, I just ... Look, when you're hurt or worse, in hospital, I want to know about it, okay? No matter how bad we were fighting before or how far away we are from each other, I want you to call." Dean looked down at his feet, feeling slightly embarrassed at what he considered a typical chick-flick-moment. That was usually Sam's thing.

"I'll call." Sam assured him, still not understanding why this was bothering his brother so much.

"Promise."

"What? You're kidding, right?"

"Sam ..." The expression on Dean's face told Sam that he wasn't kidding.

"All right, fine." He sighed. "I promise. Satisfied?"

"Yeah." Dean gave him his usual cocky grin and opened the driver door of the Impala. "Get in the car, bitch."

Sam shook his head at his brother's strange behaviour. "Jerk."

He opened the passenger door and got in the car himself. A moment later the Impala left the hospital's parking lot and drove back towards Elizabeth's house.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**A big thank you to kaz2y567i for her fantastic beta'ing. And also thanks again to HardyGurl94. You were the first to offer to help me with this story and I really appreciate that. Thanks guys, you're the best :o)**

**Also, thanks to everyone for sticking with this story and for taking the time to leave a review. It means so much to me :o)**

* * *

Sam and Dean ended up staying with Elizabeth a week longer than planned. Two days after Jade got released from hospital, Dean succumbed to a cold that, according to Elizabeth, he was bound to have. Dean blamed Sam, at first, but when his brother didn't show much of remorse, he turned his anger on his favorite victim these days – Tom. He either ignored the other man or used every opportunity to accuse him of conspiring against his family. Sam only laughed at Dean's treatments of Tom. Even though he did feel sorry for Jade's fiancé, it was too much fun to watch him squirm in front of his brother. And as long as Dean had Tom to torture, he wouldn't start blaming Sam again for this cold. 

They stayed at Elizabeth's house for two weeks, when Dean declared that they were both fit enough to leave again. Tom had already traveled back to Palo Alto, his studies not allowing him to stay away much longer. Jade had decided to stay a bit longer in order to spend some more time with her grandmother, and with Sam, Dean noticed. Jade definitely talked a lot more with him than with her grandmother. But that was okay in Dean's mind. It made Sam happy and that was something he hadn't been in a long while. They were talking a lot about their time in Stanford and Dean enjoyed learning some more about his brother's time away from him. He had hoped their conversations would lead to Sam's accident – the one Dean officially didn't even know about – but neither Jade nor Sam ever brought it up. And Dean could hardly ask about it. He would just have to be patient and wait for the right time. He wasn't sure exactly why he wasn't giving the letters to his brother right away, but a feeling in his gut told him that he should wait. And his gut was usually right.

Dean had enjoyed staying with Elizabeth. Even if he wouldn't admit it, the old woman had made him and Sam feel at home at her house. And that was a feeling neither of them had very often. But after two weeks he felt the urge to get back on the road again. So on a warm Sunday morning – spring finally decided to scare the winter away – Sam and Dean found themselves packing their bags back in the Impala.

"I think that's all."

"You sure?" Sam asked. The fact that they had started to feel at home here had lead them to spreading their things throughout the whole house. Magazines, books, notes, music cassettes – Dean had been excited when he had found Elizabeth's old tape recorder – and other things were found everywhere in the house. It had taken them awhile to collect everything.

"Yeah, I'm sure. And if we have forgotten anything, we can always come back and collect it later." Dean shrugged.

Sam grinned inwardly. The whole morning his brother came up with reasons why they might have to return one day. Though he couldn't blame him. He felt the same way.

"You sure you have everything?" Jade asked when she stepped out of the house.

"We're sure." The brothers replied in unison.

"Okay."

The three of them stood silently in front of the Impala, neither of them quite sure what to say.

"Um, Grandma is still on the phone with Dad, but she should be coming out any minute." Jade eventually said.

"I guess we can wait that long." Dean replied. "It's not like we have anywhere specific to go."

"What about the forest demon?" Sam asked.

"What?" Jade and Dean called out at the same time. While the older Winchester looked at his brother in surprise, Jade's eyes were filled with horror and confusion.

Sam shrugged. "Well, it's still out there killing people, right? Sounds like a job for us."

Dean looked at his brother thoughtfully for a moment. "What about Dad?"

"You were right." Sam sighed. "We have no idea where to look for Dad. And just driving around looking for him without even knowing where to start won't help anyone. So we can as well hunt down a few things."

"Finally you're coming to your senses." Dean grinned. "You know, if you had listened to me from the start, none of this would have happened. We could have already finished the job in the Reddick Forest long ago."

"And Lilly would still push people of the street." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have had to save your sorry ass again. You think it was fun dragging you through that forest in the middle of the night? I even gave you my coat. And what thanks do I get? A stupid, friggin' cold. I really could have ... hey!"

A snowball landing on Dean's left shoulder stopped his tirade. Startled he glanced at Sam who looked as surprised as Dean. Then their eyes slowly wandered to Jade who gave them an innocent smile.

"You didn't ..." Dean glared at her.

"What?" Jade asked innocently, a mischievous grin appearing on her lips.

The dumbfounded expression on his brother's face made Sam laugh out loud which earned him an angry glare from the older Winchester.

"You think this is funny?" Dean growled threateningly.

"Well, you sure look funny, so ..."

Before Sam had the chance to finish his sentence, another snowball hit him straight in the face. Puffing he shook his head to free himself from the snow. "You just wait." He glared at his brother and grabbed some snow that had gathered on the Impala. He quickly formed a snowball and ran after his brother who tried to find some cover. When he was sure to have a clear shot, Sam threw the snowball with all his might. Too late he noticed that Dean had grabbed Jade and pulled her in front of him as a shield. The snowball hit her right on the chest.

"Dean!" Jade called out indignantly. Then she bent down to form her own snowball and threw it after Dean's retreating form. She hit him right on the back. While Sam still laughed at the two, he found another snowball hitting him. Jade had gotten her full revenge on the Winchester brothers. But Winchesters never gave up that easily and a moment later a lively snowball fight was going on.

When Elizabeth stepped out of the house, she found the three laughing and covered in snow running around the drive way and throwing snowballs at each other. Their laughter reminded her of the good old times when this house had been filled with children and happiness. She smiled and without giving it a second thought, she stepped down, formed a snowball and threw it at the one closest to her. Which happened to be Dean. He had been concentrating so much on Jade and his brother, that the attack from behind took him completely by surprise. Slowly he turned around and stared at Elizabeth.

"No way." He shook his head.

Elizabeth looked at him with a raised eyebrow, the same innocent smile on her lips as Jade before. Dean opened his mouth to say something. He couldn't really come up with anything. What was there to say? He had just been hit with a snowball from a 70 year old woman. He narrowed his eyes and tried to decide whether it would be appropriate to get his revenge on her.

A scream from behind made him turn around and he found Sam and Jade rolling around in the snow, both trying to snowball the other. They were obviously too busy to notice anything else at the moment. With a mischievous grin Dean formed a snowball and threw it at Elizabeth. It was a full hit.

"I thought you'd never find the courage, Dean Winchester." Elizabeth laughed and began forming her next snowball.

By now Jade and Sam had noticed the newest member to their snowball fight. Laughing they got up from the ground and together attacked Dean and Elizabeth.

Laughing they continued this fight until all of them were soaked to the skin from the snow.

"Great. Now we have to get the bags out and change into new clothes." Dean growled. He was standing with his hands resting on his knees, panting slightly. Who would have thought that a snowball fight with two still recuperating ex-hospital patients and a 70 year old woman could be this exhausting. Though the happy grin on his face betrayed his growling words.

"You better hurry before you all end up with a cold this time." Elizabeth smiled. She looked as happy as the rest of them.

After they had all changed into dry clothes, they stood in front of the Impala again.

"Take care of yourself, boys. And remember that you always have a place here to come when you need one." Elizabeth told them with a warm smile.

"We will. Thank you for everything, Elizabeth." Dean said gratefully. "And I haven't forgotten the roof. We will definitely come back in summer to fix it."

"And call." Jade cut in, looking intently at Sam. "I don't want to wait until the next spirit haunts me to hear from you again."

"I'll call." Sam promised.

"You better. And I want weekly updates about your whereabouts. You still have my email address."

"Weekly?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Someone has to make sure you're all right." Jade pointed out.

Sighing Sam gave in. "Fine. Weekly." It wasn't really that bad to stay in touch with her.

"Well, we better go now." Dean cut in, regret sounding in his voice.

They all said their good byes and Sam and Dean got into the Impala. They made one last promise to stay in contact and then drove down the driveway. Both of them felt sad at seeing Elizabeth and Jade waving at them in the rearview mirror. They usually didn't have people waving at them when they left anywhere. It was unfamiliar, but it made them both feel warm inside.

"So, you sure about the Reddick Forest?" Dean asked.

"Yep."

"Okay, then Reddick Forest it is. Forest Demon watch out, the Winchesters are on their way to kick your ass!"

Sam shook his head grinning while Dean turned up the music. AC/DC's 'Big Gun' was blaring out of the speakers as the Impala roared down the road towards their next destination.

XXXXXXX

A man in a dark coat got into his car, a black Mustang, that was parked behind some big bushes, effectively hiding it from the eyes of the Beauchamp house. He grabbed a notebook from the backseat and scribbled something inside. It had been a close call for the Winchester boy this time and he had found another piece of the puzzle. He was getting closer to finding the answer he had been looking for for so long. With a satisfied smile, he drove the car back onto the street, on the road the Winchesters had taken. He was pretty sure he knew where they were going next.

The end.


End file.
